thank you, gareth davies, the head of the national audit office.e says, about public trust. people want to see a transparent system, or some people at least that we've been speaking to want to know what steps have been taken first at there will be many questions for the government as more people diejust the be many questions for the government as more people die just the findings from this report. sima kotecha, thank you very much, our business presenter. i will be talking to the director of the good law project who are considering taking the government to court over this. if you want to get in touch with us about this or about the industrial green revolution the prime minister is setting out a ten point plan on today or talk to us about loneliness, the report on loneliness we will be discussing soon, i will be talking to the minister for loneliness, soon, i will be talking to the ministerfor loneliness, do soon, i will be talking to the minister for loneliness, do get soon, i will be talking to the ministerfor loneliness, do get in touch with us.

the national audit office says firms recommended by mps and peers were given priority in contracts.from the start of the pandemic to the end ofjuly, government contracts worth £18 billion were awarded at high speed using emergency rules to bypass the normal competitive tendering process. most of the contracts were to suppliers of the contracts were to suppliers of personal protective equipment. the independent national audit office said even in an emergency remained essential to public trust that the government to document why it chose a particular supply and how it chose a particular supply and how it managed any conflicts of interests. in a sample of 20 cases, it found repeated failure to do so. clearly people had to move at great speed, everyone agrees with that, but we don't accept it is not possible simultaneously to be clearly documenting the reasons for each contract award and then put that in the public domain in line with government's own rules. those two things didn't happen consistently. taking virtually from isolation, the prime minister was challenged on the report's fi

the national audit office has called over this. king the same questions about preparedness this late on? in march, the watchdog the national audit office said eight of the nine major government programmes were "high—risk" or red. that score today stands at one of those nine programmes that is still red, which is trade readiness. so we think that's a measure of the degree of progress that we have made in relation to the systems, and infrastructure, customs intermediaries, and data sharing all these other important necessary aspects of being ready for the border at the end of the year. we are five weeks away from the end of the year. so what are your biggest worries? i think first of all i would pick out, as the nao did, just the sheer scale of the operation means that there are literally many moving parts. so many things have to change at one time that inevitably there is going to be some difficulties for some individual people as they adjust to the new regime. he was also concerned at the number of businesses that still needed to ge

the uk's national audit office says inadequate personal protective equipment for the covid pandemic thispayers around £10 billion. the watchdog said there had been a particular shortage of gloves and aprons. almost £12.5 billion was spent on 32 billion items of ppe between february and july this year. the us securities regulator has proposed a new plan to allow tech companies, such as uber and lyft, to pay their independent contract workers up to 15% of their salaries in equity rather than cash. the sec hopes the plan would allow gig workers to participate in the growth of companies they work for. hong kong's chief executive carrie lam has delivered her annual policy address, and said the government's main hong kong's chief executive carrie lam has delivered her annual policy address, and said the government's main priority was to restore the constitutional order and pull its political system out of chaos. lam also mentioned hong kong has experienced multiple blows, which had led to high unemployment and a shrinking economy. we're now joined from singapore by sharanjit leyl. she is a ver

this morning the independent national audit office concluded the government approach was, in theirwordsarency. they reported that more than half of all contracts relating to the pandemic, mr speaker that's totalling £10.5 billion were handed out without competitive tender and that suppliers with political connections were ten times more likely to be awarded contracts. can the prime minister give a cast assurance that from on, from now on all government contracts will be subject to proper process with full transparency and accountability? borisjohnson rejected that and attacked suggestions he said had been made by a labour shadow minister, rachel reeves. he talks about transparency and moving too fast to secure contracts, and he should cover the shutter counsellor wrote to the government attacking us for failing to approach various people including a football agent who was a fritos of light ventilators. and it clothing manufacture company make guns and whose current range includes 16th—century silk bonnets. at the time he bash the government for not moving fast enough and sexually absurd

the national audit office, which is the government spending watchdog, it keeps an eye on exactly how the government is spending taxpayer money has come out with a very critical report. 'd as to how the government went about procuring items relating to the coronavirus and its prevention and protections, and in particular, p.p.a. personal protective equipment. according to the national audit office, a report that's been released, the smaller it's a catalog of problems. i mean, basically it says more than $13000000000.00 worth of contracts were awarded directly without going through a competitive tender process. firms recommended by members of parliament, peers and ministers offices. these are basically within the concert ruling conservative party were given priority. inadequate explanation was given as to why particular supplies were chosen and not enough was done to address potential conflicts of interest. now it's pretty critical stuff. the government minister who's been doing the rounds of the t.v. and radio stations this morning, has been unapologetic, saying there was massive pres

so the national audit office said that even ina time national audit office said that even in a time ofre then going to pursue this case in the courts, is that right? we haveissued in the courts, is that right? we have issued a number of separate legal cases and we will be pursuing those cases and there will be hearings in february and government is now going to have to, under the compulsion of the rules of court, produce material that it has so far refused to produce. the government's attitude to transparency on this is really pretty shocking. there are contracts entered into in april that it has still not published, and the law is abundantly clear. the law says you have 30 days to publish details, and we are looking at delays of six or seven months, and no sign of these contracts coming forward. i don't understand it. i also don't understand why, if government is going to operate a vip channel for its contact —— rich contracts, we should be entitled to know who has gone through the vip channel and what contracts have been awarded and on what terms because u nless we awarded and on wha

i do not think the national audit 0ffice do not think the national audit office is suggesting somehowwitch to electric will affect all motorists. petrol and diesel are being phased out because we know how damaging they are to our health and the environment. so last year, the government committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050. that means the amount of gas produced must be met by the amount removed from the atmosphere. about a third of co2 emissions in the uk come from transport. so to help it meet that commitment the government had already committed to banning the sale of new diesel and petrol cars. in february the prime minister said he wanted that ban to come in in 2035 — now we know that plan will be brought forward to 2030. although the sale of some hybrid cars will be allowed a little longer. that five—year acceleration is significant. because at the moment just 7% of cars sold in the uk are battery electric. one of the main obstacles is cost. one of the uk's most popular electric cars, the nissan leaf, costs around £27,000 for a basic model. compare tha

the national audit office says firms recommended by mps and peers were given priority in contracts.ic to the end ofjuly, government contracts worth £18 billion were awarded at high speed, using emergency rules to bypass the normal competitive tendering process. most of the contracts were to suppliers of personal protective equipment. the independent national audit office said even in an emergency, it remained essential to public trust for the government to document why it had chosen a particular supplier and how it had managed any potential conflicts of interest. in a sample of 20 cases, it found repeated failures to do so. clearly people had to move at great speed, everyone agrees with that but we don't accept it is not possible to be simultaneously clearly documenting the reasons for each contract award and then to be putting that in the public domain in line with the government's own rules and those two things did not happen consistently. taking questions virtually from isolation in downing street, the prime minister was challenged on the report's findings. can the prime is to gi

the national audit office said that stockpiles were low and that competing for ppe with other countriesthe taxpayer an extra ten billion pounds. our special correspondent, lucy manning, reports. at felixstowe port amongst the containers, a sign of england's ppe problems. 4,000 containers of protective equipment still sitting there causing logjams — because most of the government's ppe orders didn't arrive for the first covid peak. at the beginning of the pandemic, the government hadn't built up its stockpile of ppe enough. so there were only nine days‘ worth of goggles left, seven days‘ worth of protective aprons and as for gowns, there weren't even enough to last a day. and that meant the government had to buy with prices rocketing. the price of body bags and the price of gowns went up by more than 1,000%. the price of gloves went up by more than 500%. the spending watchdog found more than £12 billion was spent buying ppe. if it had been bought at prices the year before, £10 billion could have been saved. the shortages left staff feeling vulnerable. risking their lives, some lost them.

according to the national audit office, a report that's been released the smalling, it's a catalogue of problems. i mean, basically it says more than $13000000000.00 worth of contracts were awarded directly without going through a competitive tender process. firms recommended by members of parliament, peers and ministers offices. these are basically within the concerns ruling conservative party were given priority in adequate explanation was given as to why particular supplies were chosen and not enough was done so address potential conflicts of interest. now it's pretty critical stuff. the government minister has been doing the rounds of the t.v. and radio stations this morning has been unapologetic, saying there was massive pressure to get this people out, people out to the front line to the hospitals that needed it. and just we had to get it done quickly, so he, he makes no apology for cutting corners. but that said, the opposition parties are going to make a lot of hay with this. and for the moment, paul berman, thanks for the update. hurrican has weakened to a tropical storm, as

national audit office, the government approach was in her words diminished public transparency.tracts related to the pandemic totaling 10.5 billion pounds and suppliers with political connections were more likely. we are 8 months into the from now on, all government contracts are subject to proper process with full transparency and accountability. >> all government contracts will be published in a do way and it is extraordinary he attacks the government for securing ppe in huge quantities. i thank the people who are involved in those efforts, thousands of others who built up a mountain of ppe against any further crisis. he talks about transparency, moving to secure the contract. the shadow chancellor, attacking or failing to approach a softball agent offering to supply ventilators, they currently make 170 pounds per week and it includes 16th-century film policies. at the time he bashed the government for not knowing fast enough, it is absurd that captain hindsight is not once again trying to restore political points by attacking us from moving too fast. i am proud of what we did

conduct of the government and its ministers has been criticised by the supreme court, by the national audit officeement, the commissioner for public appointments, the chair of the committee on the standards in public life and the prime minister's independent adviser on ministerial conduct. does the government take these criticisms seriously? and if so, what proposals does it have to restore confidence in the probity of public life? my lords, i don't agree that confidence in the probity of public life, as my noble friend puts it, is destroyed. the government takes all criticism and all comment seriously and reflects on all comment positive and negative. the ministerial code would outlaw bullying and harassment, but he's made the process a sham and the outcome shambolic. this is what obama calls truth decay. why should civil servants, my lords, or indeed anyone else now trust the prime minister's promises? but not everyone agreed with that. it is a strength of the ministerial code that it does not require removal from office of a minister who breaches the code, but it emphasises that the prime minis

the national audit office found firms recommended by mps, peers and ministers' offices were given priority.ite to address potential conflicts of interest. amazon has launched an online pharmacy for delivering prescription medications in the us, challenging drug retailers like walgreens & walmart. the new service lets customers compare the price of the drugs they buy on the company's website and app. company shares rose nearly 2% on the announcement, while shares of drug store chains and wholesalers fell. bitcoin has hit its highest level in nearly three years. it's trading atjust over 17,000 dollars, jumping 4% in the last 24 hours alone. analysts say the cryptocurrency is being seen more as a safe haven asset like gold, which investors often flock to in times of economic turbulence. with just 36 shopping days left until christmas and much of europe still struggling with coronavirus restrictions, it's no surprise that online retail is booming. demand for deliveries has reached levels the logistics companies didn't expect to see for several years. volumes equivalent to cyber monday or christma

point the finger and address our criticisms but you know neither the it'll be too late then a national audit office mosque at davis investigating right now pandemic contract after the department of health and social care agreed 11000000000 in the 5 months to september i mean do you agree with him about the concern about transparency over all these contracts being given to private companies join the pandemic. i think that there are a lot of pressure has to be asked yes it is too late to wait for afterwards to be reflective and so on so for them but there are 2 jobs to do one is to try as quickly as possible to identify needs know and address them as best we can and secondly we will have to learn from this program late in the day it is because i'm pretty sure it will be another one of these states coming before too long that the shame for me is that we didn't anticipate. something like this happening before now ok i'm on those contracts and fantasy that harding hasn't his the anti-corruption champion of our strengthens anti-corruption champion but you're not concerned at the moment in the nords itsel

over the same period, uk regular forces have decreased by a quarter, and on top of that, the national audit officeis a black hole of up to £13 billion in the mod equipment plan. the mod's annual budget is currently £41 billion a year. the government is now promising that will rise by 4% a year above inflation, which would mean an overall increase in the mod budget to nearly 52 billion by 2025. the government says the extra investment will also boost the economy, creating, it says, up to 10,000 extra jobs a year. at bae systems in lancashire, they have already started work on what they call their factory of the future, where they are developing the next generation of fighterjet. are developing the next generation of fighter jet. tempest are developing the next generation of fighterjet. tempest has been designed to fly with or without a pilot in the cockpit, but a former military chief worries about the cuts that will still have to be made to fund these new technologies. obviously, there are some programmes, some historic programmes, some historic programmes, that could be cut, and i'm sure the defe

the national audit office said that stockpiles were low and that competing for ppe with other countriespondent lucy manning reports. at felixstowe port, amongst the containers, a sign of england's ppe problems. 4,000 containers of protective equipment still sitting there causing logjams because most of the government's ppe orders did not arrive for the first covid—19 peak. at the beginning of the pandemic, the government had not built up its stockpile of ppe enough. so there were only nine days' worth of goggles left, seven days' worth of protective aprons and as for gowns, there weren't even enough to last a day. and that meant the government had to buy with prices rocketing. the price of body bags and the price of gowns went up by more than 1000%. the price of gloves went up by more than 500%. the spending watchdog the nao found more than £12 billion was spent buying ppe. if it had been bought at prices the year before, £10 billion could've been saved. the shortages left staff feeling vulnerable, risking their lives. some lost them. this woman was a nurse. she died in april of coronav

the national audit office said that stockpiles in the uk were low, but said that competing for ppe withng examines the findings. at felixstowe port amongst the containers, a sign of england's ppe problems. 4,000 containers of protective equipment still sitting there causing logjams — because most of the government's ppe orders didn't arrive for the first covid peak. at the beginning of the pandemic, the government hadn't built up its stockpile of ppe enough. so there were only nine days' worth of goggles left, seven days' worth of protective aprons and as for gowns, there weren't even enough to last a day. and that meant the government had to buy with prices rocketing. the price of body bags and the price of gowns went up by more than 1000%. the price of gloves went up by more than 500%. the spending watchdog found more than £12 billion was spent buying ppe. if it had been bought at prices the year before, £10 billion could have been saved. the shortages left staff feeling vulnerable. the report says it isn't implying there's evidence of a link between covid deaths and ppe. the family o

like to reassure the noble lord that these figures are currently being validated with the national audit officeersary of sir lindsay hoyle's election as speaker. and sir lindsay marked the date by interrupting the prime minister to lay down the rules to a conservative mp, andrew murrison, who'd found something else to do during borisjohnson‘s speech. we cannot read newspapers in the chamber. prime minister. absolutely right for honourable members to consult relevant documents that may contain information to the advantage of the betterment of the house. laughter. i can assure my honourable friend that his future is rosy. the prime minister possibly raising andrew murrison‘s hope of a ministerial comeback. that was wednesday in parliament. thank you for watching. i do hope you canjoin me at the same time tomorrow for the week in parliament — the only programme that offers you highlights from westminster and the uk's other parliaments. until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. hello there. it's pretty cold out there at the moment across more southern parts of the uk. wednesday started with

the national audit office has reported that more than £10 billion worth of contracts have been handede tender for supplies of protective equipment for the nhs. and it said that "suppliers with political connections were ten times more likely to be awarded contracts." for his part, the prime minister said he was proud of the way the government found supplies of ppe when the pandemic took hold. labour demanded more transparency and asked why a spanish businessman had been paid millions for his role in getting supplies. our special correspondent lucy manning has more details. the £21 million man. spanish businessman gabriel andersson got that amount in consulting fees on a uk ppe deal. the bbc revealed yesterday he got paid for helping the owner of a miami jewellery company who had won the contracts, so it was ultimately british taxpayers' money. from pendants to pmqs. does the prime minister think £21 million to a middle man was an acceptable use of taxpayers' money? the prime minister answered from self—isolation. we were facing, as he will remember, a very difficult situation, where a

national audit office, the government approach was the public transparency they reported more than half of all contracts relating to the pandemic, 10.5 billion pounds were handed out without a contender, the suppliers with political connections were ten times more lely of the contract, we are eht months into thi csis, the government is making the same mistakes, can the prime ministe give assurance tha from now on all government contrts to be subject to proper process with full transparency and accountability. >> all government contract can be published and already been published. but it's extraordinary the attacks of the government and i want to thank again all the people who were involved in the effort and thousands who stood up at ppe against any further crisis, he talks about transparency. the government attacking to approach including a football agent who was a manufacturing company that made hundreds of these gowns per week, 16th century, again speaker and attacking too far, the ppe during a pandemic. >> prime minister w are now going to call the company. >> thank you, speaker i am

firms recommended by mps and peers were given priority in contracts — that's according to the national audit office achieved when it came to sourcing ppe. our special correspondent lucy manning has more. the £21 million man. spanish businessman gabriel anderson got that mentor in consulting fees in the uk ppe deal. he got paid for helping the centre of a miami jewellery com pa ny helping the centre of a miami jewellery company who had won the contracts. so it was ultimately british taxpayers money. from pendants to pmqs. does the prime minister think £20 million to a middle man was an acceptable use of taxpayers money? the prime minister a nswered taxpayers money? the prime minister answered from self isolation. we we re answered from self isolation. we were facing a very difficult situation where across the world they were not adequate supplies of ppe. nobody had enough ppe. we shifted heaven and earth to get 32 billion items of ppe to this country. the public spending watchdog says it will investigate these payments and today it criticised the government for the way it had bought ppe, saying it h

that's the findings of a report by the public spending watchdog, the national audit office.port recognised that nhs providers had been able to get what they needed in time. well, robert white is the author of the report and director of health at the national audit office. good to have you with us to talk about your report today. i just wonder, ultimately, does this report show, in your opinion, that the government in reasonable circumstances should have actually had that supply is in place? that's a good question and a slightly difficult one to answer, because the national stockpile that was in place was designed for an influenza pandemic and do not occur coronavirus pandemic. —— and not a coronavirus pandemic. —— and not a coronavirus pandemic. —— and not a coronavirus pandemic. and one of the things that should have been on hand in the first wave was gowns and there were none in the national stockpile, so on one level, good news there was a national stockpile but what had to be adapted very quickly was getting the supplies that was needed. and then the supply and demand ef

a report from the public spending watchdog, the national audit office, found that not enough ppe haded before the pandemic to meet demand. that drove up prices. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. as nurses and doctors risked their lives to save others, they should have been protected. but a shortage of personal protective equipment left many feeling vulnerable. the report from the spending watchdog found in the early months of the pandemic, not enough ppe, huge increases in prices and orders that failed to meet specifications. at the start of the pandemic the government hadn't built the stockpile up enough. there were only nine days' worth of goggles, seven days' worth of protective aprons, and not enough gowns to even last a day. so they were forced to buy as prices rocketed. the cost of body bags and gowns went up by more than a thousand percent. gloves went up by 500%. more than £12 billion was spent buying ppe. if it had been bought at the prices a year before, £10 billion could have been saved. your masks and your two boxes. dan archer runs an in—home care company i

you refer to the report of the national audit 0ffice the report of the national audit office which refersr warfare, is that the right direction of travel as far as you are concerned in terms of how this money should be spent? well, we have to maintain and develop further a whole range of capabilities. we need to make sure we fully fund our existing capabilities. but we live in an evolving and developing world and therefore artificial intelligence, robotics, venturing into space to a degree, these are all important additional areas that we have got to think about and put money into. but of course, when you broaden your range of capabilities, you exacerbate your own problems. although £16.5 billion is very welcome, they‘ve got to be very careful at the mod where the extra money is applied. it cannot all go into exciting new, albeit pressing new capabilities, there are existing capabilities that need to be properly funded to keep us as a tier 1 defence nation. so it's about looking after the basics as well as looking after the basics as well as looking to the future? that's the theme of it.

over the same period, uk regular forces have decreased by a quarter, and on top of that, the national audit officeblack hole of up to £13 billion in the mod equipment plan. the mod's annual budget is currently £41 billion a year. the government is now promising that will rise by 4% a year above inflation, which would mean an overall increase in the mod budget to nearly 52 billion by 2025. the government says the extra investment will also boost the economy, creating, it says, up to 10,000 extra jobs a year. at bae systems in lancashire, they have already started work on what they call their factory of the future, where they are developing the next generation of fighter jet. tempest has been designed to fly with or without a pilot in the cockpit, but a former military chief worries about the cuts that will still have to be made to fund these new technologies. obviously, there are some programmes, some historic programmes, that could be cut, and i'm sure the defence chief will think very carefully about that, but the vast majority of our maritime, land and air capabilities that we currently have nee

here in the uk — the national audit office has found that normal standards of transparency were set asideen priority in contracts. lucy manning has this report. the £21 million man. spanish businessman gabriel anderson got that mentor in consulting fees in the uk ppe deal. he got paid for helping the centre of a miami jewellery company who had won the contracts. so it was ultimately british taxpayers money. from pendants to pmqs. does the prime minister think £20 million to a middle man was an acceptable use of taxpayers money? the prime minister answered from self isolation. we were facing a very difficult situation where across the world they were not adequate supplies of ppe. nobody had enough ppe. we shifted heaven and earth to get 32 billion items of ppe to this country. the public spending watchdog says it will investigate these payments and today it criticised the government for the way it had bought ppe, saying it had not been open enough about the way decisions are made. how did companies get to supply hospitals with the ppe they desperately needed? it turns out there was a vip f

the national audit office said that stockpiles were low and that competing for ppe with other countries ppe problems. 4,000 containers of protective equipment still sitting there causing logjams because most of the government's ppe orders didn't arrive for the first covid—19 peak. at the beginning of the pandemic, the government hadn't built up its stockpile of ppe enough. so there were only nine days' worth of goggles left, seven days' worth of protective aprons and as for gowns, there weren't even enough to last a day. and that meant the government had to buy with prices rocketing. the price of body bags and the price of gowns went up by more than 1000%. the price of gloves went up by more than 500%. the spending watchdog found more than £12 billion was spent buying ppe. if it had been bought at prices the year before, £10 billion could have been saved. the shortages left staff feeling vulnerable, risking their lives. some lost them. this woman was a nurse. she died in april of coronavirus. she did have diabetes, but her family claims she lacked proper ppe. well, it's devastating — es

i think the evidence is clear and there's been very critical reports from people like the national audit office government really needs to step into the frame now and take responsibility. yes, of course local councils have their own responsibilities, but ultimately, if thatis responsibilities, but ultimately, if that is not happening, the government needs to step up and make sure that they know how many places are needed, that there is a plan in place and importantly, funding is there to back the creation of the places. anne longfield, thank you very much. the high court is due to start considering whether an american woman implicated in the death of a british teenager had diplomatic immunity. harry dunn, who was 19, died after his motorbike collided with a car being driven on the wrong side of the road in northamptonshire. anne sacoolas was driving. she's the wife of a us intelligence officer and she returned to the us after the crash last year. mr dunn's parents are disputing the foreign office's insistence that she was entitled to claim immunity. the treasury is being challenged to help thou

by that i'm referring to the national audit office report which highlighted a black hole the departmentn black hole in spending on equipment. so is this money really what it seems? well, it is. it is new money it will go to fill those holes and as you heard the defence secretary saying there as well, the character of conflicts is changing and we need to adapt to that, we need to make sure we have the cyber security skills and we are able to defend our satellites as to where the arena of conflict is going into. we will not hear those details until february because any integrated review is notjust about how much you spend on defence, it is also about the uk's ambition, our role on the international stage, our long term strategic aims. it also has to confirm the threat we face, what will we do about china, for example? we will not hear that until february. but the message i take away from this is a powerful one, meant for the white house, i think. we stand with the white house, with joe biden, wants to reboot western resolve, ready to confront ever powerful, hostile competitors who i think

that's the findings of a report by the public spending watchdog, the national audit office.nd aprons, and two orders for 75 million facemasks could not be used as they did not current pass safety standards. our special correspondent lucy manning reports. as nurses and doctors risked their lives to save others, they should have been protected. but a shortage of personal protective equipment left many feeling vulnerable. the report from the spending watchdog found in the early months of the pandemic, not enough ppe, huge increases in prices, and orders that failed to meet specifications. at the start of the pandemic, the government hadn't built the stockpile up enough. there were only nine days' worth of goggles, seven days' worth of protective aprons, and not enough gowns to even last a day. so they were forced to buy as prices rocketed. the cost of body bags and gowns went up by more than 1000%. gloves went up by 500%. more than £12 billion was spent buying ppe. if it had been bought at the prices a year before, £10 billion could have been saved. your masks and your two boxe

think the evidence is clear and there have been very critical reports from people like the national audit officeeir own responsibilities, but ultimately, if that is not happening, government needs to step up and they need to make sure they know how many places are needed, that there is a plan in place and importantly, funding there. the north of england has been hit harder by coronavirus than the rest of the country, according to a new study. the research, led by the universities of newcastle, manchester, york and liverpool found that pre—existing inequalities were made worse by the pandemic. the report also found more people in northern england died of the virus between march and july than elsewhere in the country. dying of all causes and also specifically of covid—19. we'll be speaking to the author of that report later this hour. conservative backbenchers have formed a group to oppose any extension to the lockdown in england. the covid recovery group, made up of 50 mp5, says shutdowns are destroying the economy and leading to "untold" health problems. the group also wants more scrutiny of the

first of all i would point people to the national audit office report that identified quite correctly was wrong is that for 40 or 30 years when i was serving in the army is that our ambition was never matched by the funding and eventually that catches up with you, so when i looked out the armed forces today i saw them with equipment that was out of date, adversaries across the world having better equipment or the ability to attack us and harm us, getting wider and wider from ability to attack us and harm us, getting wider and widerfrom our capabilities and when that happens, time runs out and you need to modernise your forces and sometimes let go of some older capabilities and that takes money in order to first of all create the headroom to invest because many of our programmes, we don't just invest because many of our programmes, we don'tjust roll out a ship, we don't have aeroplanes like the f 35 made in lancashire, that's a20 the f 35 made in lancashire, that's a 20 year project and you have to start investing now for the future and that's what we've been trying to do and the prime

office there in georgia. our cnn national correspondent kyung lah is with us now. kyung, tell us what the latest is. what's happening with this auditeporter: the latest we're hearing from the top voting managers in the state are that they are on track to finish this hand audit, this hand count by 11:59 p.m. tonight. that is ahead of the state deadline for certification of the vote, and that deadline is on friday. and of the counties that have already completed this audit, they haven't found anything unusual. it is typical that during a vote and if there is an audit or recount that you come across minor discrepancies. but as far as any whole-scale changes or anything large or widespread, brianna, not happening. the results are not expected to change here in georgia, brianna. >> and right now, after this is done, it's not like we're going to stop watching georgia. the whole country is watching georgia for the two senate runoff races there. more than $125 million have already been spent on ads, and we still have six weeks to go here. is georgia feeling the pressure with so much at stake? >> reporter: absolutely. you hear it from the v