ithink it's that nicola sturgeon _ that, katie. ithink it's that nicola sturgeon has - that, katie.n has oftenl that, katie. | think it's that - nicola sturgeon has often taken that, katie. i think it's that - nicola sturgeon has often taken a more _ nicola sturgeon has often taken a more cautious approach, so you've had tighter— more cautious approach, so you've had tighter rules in scotland than in england. i think that in the first— in england. i think that in the first stage of the pandemic, you often _ first stage of the pandemic, you often saw— first stage of the pandemic, you often saw england copying scotland 'ust often saw england copying scotland just a _ often saw england copying scotland just a few _ often saw england copying scotland just a few weeks later, much to the dismay— just a few weeks later, much to the dismay of tory mps. just a few weeks later, much to the dismay of tory mp5. i won't say it's the final— dismay of tory mp5. i won't say it's the final stage, even if boris johnson _ the final stage, even if boris johnson says it is, but at this later— johnson sa

nicola sturgeon is been very cautious— nicola sturgeon is been very cautious but the uk government are cautious but the uk government are wanting to start those conversations and if _ wanting to start those conversations and if they— wanting to start those conversations and if they want to have those conversations they're starting to have _ conversations they're starting to have them at about testing, for example — have them at about testing, for example. if you are getting rid of mandatory self isolation the next move might be getting rid of those free test— move might be getting rid of those free test this is not to go down well— free test this is not to go down well with— free test this is not to go down well with public health experts, i don't think. we heard a number of people _ don't think. we heard a number of people expressed concerns about getting _ people expressed concerns about getting rid of the legal requirements to self—isolate a few of covid _ requirements to self—isolate a few of covid i— requirements to self—isolate a few of covid. i think concerns will be expressed —

nicola sturgeon is going to address the scottish parliament this afternoon.rmal life but also controlling the virus. the scottish government doesn't want to see an end to free massive testing. they have said this is not the public health advice. the testing system is a uk initiative, so holyrood is seeking clarity from westminster as to how the decision in england is going to affect scotland. borisjohnson suggested yesterday that if scotland wanted to maintain the current level of testing that they could fund that from their existing budget. nicola sturgeon also doesn't want to end self—isolation for people with covid, the strong advice for people in scotland who do test positive is to self—isolate. but that is guidance, not a legal requirement. the first minister could also indicate this afternoon when it rules on face coverings and covid passports could be relaxed. the scottish conservative party has said that now scotland is the outlier in the uk and has urged the first minister to relax the restrictions. three convicted terrorists including the brother of

that was nicola sturgeon talking in the last hour. to life. large parts of shrewsbury town centre are under water and a major incident has been declared in bewdley, worcestershire. our news correspondentjo black is in bewdley with the latest. we're on the bridge here in bewdley, over the river severn, and this georgian town usually sits upon the river severn, but look at it today — very swollen, the river levels are very high, and over here you can see some road closures and there are properties over there with flood doors. there are sandbags. people say they are concerned. and you can also see over there that there are some temporary barriers — they are temporary flood barriers. people get concerned about those because they're a temporary structure — people do worry that they could be overtopped. now there is an evacuation order in place here — around 50 to 60 properties are deemed at risk of flooding. about 20 miles north from where i'm standing, talking to you now in ironbridge, around 60 properties there also at risk of flooding.

nicola sturgeon has added her voice to those _ late.at the prime minister today did not commit to going faster and keir starmer said in parliament that the opposition would be united across parliament to make sure we could get legislation through quickly and sanction through quickly if that is required but the prime minister responded by saying the economic crime bill which is about trying to clean up the city of london and clean up the city of london and clean up the city of london and clean up london which is known as the laundromat for russian money in the laundromat for russian money in the world, and that is now being delayed until the next session of parliament which means we won't see that until after the summer. that is too late. let's do these things now and use the unifying parliament we have got to push the legislation through and make sure we have a proper and deep sanctions regime that really puts the squeeze on president putin otherwise he will just continue to act with impunity and as the ukrainian foreign minister set ou

what nicola sturgeon has 'ust said. ., ~ exactly what nicola sturgeon has 'ust said. ., ,, , ., , exactlyemanded in custody and will be sentenced in april. a crash involving two trains in salisbury in october happened after one of them failed to stop at a red signal because its wheels were sliding along the track. that's according to an interim report by the rail accident investigation branch. the raib said its full investigation will consider the actions taken on the day to manage the risk of "low adhesion." you're watching bbc news. sport and for a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. the chair of uk sport says it's right to question how public funding for winter sports has been spent, after team gb fell well short of their medal target for beijing. they won just two medals, both in curling, with the women's team claiming gold on the final day of the games. they'd been set a target of three to seven. there were only 15 top—10 finishes from team gb, compared to 17 outside the top—25 orfailing to finish. we review the findings, checking in, seeing what the potential is. these results

the diary. officials, that engagement is still in the diary-— the first minister of scotland, nicola sturgeon in four weeks' time. she said that from march 21st, the need to wear face masks in public places would switch from legal requirement to guidance. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon has the details. the covid strategy has been different here. more cautious. facemasks are still law in indoor public places, including at concerts like this. that now, soon to end. i think it is far too soon. i'm just sticking with my mask anyway, there is no way i'm taking it off tonight. i think we need to go back to some sort of normality, and live with it rather than fight against it. all legal restrictions in scotland, including the wearing of face coverings, will end on march the 21st, although people will still be advised to wear masks in some indoor settings — including shops and on public transport. ahead of that, from next monday, scotland's covid passport scheme will finish and there will be no changes to the self—isolation guidelines. support payments will also remain. the first minister al

nicola sturgeon saying...led inflation. it means we can buy less for a pound today than we could buy yesterday. in the uk, the latest measure of monthly inflation figure is out — and it's 5.5%, up from 5.4% in december. that's the highest since march 1992. clothing and footwear price increases pushed up the overall total this month. about 500 barrels of oil has leaked from a pipe off the north wales coast. the incident took places about 20 miles north of rhyl. the pipe, which runs between two platforms named conwy and douglas, was shut off following the leak on monday and remains closed. gordon white is the countryside officer for sefton council, which is warning that balls of tar may start washing up on its coastline. thank you forjoining us, are you seeing any of these tar balls yet? thanks for giving the opportunity to speak to you. we haven't seen any land. for. the predictions we were sold yesterday were suggesting there would be a land within the boundaries of our local authority at sefton sometime from

scotland�*s first minister, nicola sturgeon has also been speaking today, saying that sensible decisionse have a virus seems to me to be a sensible thing to do to try to protect that greater sense of normality. similarly, with testing. of course, we want to move to a situation where we�*re using testing in a much more targeted way, although we need to continue to have the right infrastructure for surveillance. but it�*s the phasing and the timescale over which we do that. we�*ve still got a really highly transmissible variant circulating right now. cases are still at quite a high level, so it�*s about striking the right balance. we all want to get back to normal, but crucially, we want to stay back to normal, and that means taking sensible decisions about managing the whole thing. let�*s go back to one of our main stories today. storm franklin has caused severe flooding in parts of northern ireland, while in yorkshire and greater manchester people have been forced to leave their homes for safety. speaking on a visit to kent where work is underway to restore power, energy minister greg ha

wants to end coronavirus restrictions in england and scotland is a different matter, we know nicola sturgeonn't want to go that wayjust yet. but if that's how the uk government wants to go it seems like a logical step that they would begin discussions on whether or not to have the legal requirement to self—isolate, what comes next? is that getting rid of free access to test? it looks like the guardian spoke to a number of sources who say this is what the treasury want to do, they want to move away from pcr test being widely available free to people. and it would be used in high risk and hospital settings. and possibly take the uk in line with other european countries and the us where people do have to pay for test. i think we've seen this week from public health experts in the way they reacted from borisjohnson experts in the way they reacted from boris johnson wasn't to experts in the way they reacted from borisjohnson wasn't to end to that legal requirement to self—isolate for think it's far too early to be talking about ending free test with a it's obviously part of the discussion that we

the first minister, nicola sturgeon, says the change will take effect from february 28th, when all schoolswill be kept under "regular review". wales' first minister, mark drakeford, has tested positive for coronavirus and is self—isolating. it comes on the eve of the release of his latest review of coronavirus legislation. the economy minister, vaughan gething, will now lead tomorrow's news conference on any proposed changes to wales' covid rules. last month, bbc news revealed there were 100 people with learning disabilities and autism who'd been detained in a hospital for more than 20 years. since then, several people across the uk have been in touch regarding their own battles to have loved ones released. our correspondent, jayne mccubbin, has been to northern ireland, to meet a woman who's been fighting for 3h years to bring her brother home. it's a journey i will never forget. there was a lot of crying, a lot of weeping and wailing. this was thejourney which broke brigin's family. my mother was in the back of the ambulance and i was with her. and the ambulance crew were trying to preve

scotland first minister nicola sturgeon will set out in a statement later her government's plans forshe is due to speak to the scottish parliament and shall outline her plan for living with coronavirus. it's likely to differ from what we heard from boris johnson today in the house of commons. the first minister does not want to end free mass testing. the scottish government has said this is not the public health advice. now, the testing system is a uk initiative so holyrood have asked the confirmation from westminster as to the decision from england and how it will impact on scotland and the other nations. borisjohnson suggested that if scotland wanted to maintain the current level of testing, they could fund that from the existing budget. he also said he continued to work closely with the other nations. now, nicola sturgeon has said she doesn't agree with ending self isolation for those who test positive for coronavirus. in scotland, people are strongly advised to self isolated they have coronavirus. however, it's not a legal requirement unless it's connected to international travel

we heard earlier today nicola sturgeon, the first minister for scotland, saying that conversations areto roll out the vaccine, but as we have just been healing, there is no real rush to get there is a vaccine rolled out to this age group. chilton's to co—produce, as we have heard many times, is very low, competently compared to others. —— children's covid risk. we cannot protect what will happen next, but we need to at costa in a case that is a more matt genge is very round the corner. this will protect a very small group of children who will be more at risk of covid and run the risk of being hospitalised. but they set this as a nonurgent offer, that is what it says on the town. there is no pressure for parents to make a decision tomorrow. parents can take the time, and it is an offer. so, they don't have to say yes, they don't have to take it up. the priority is told to focus on boosting adults who are more vulnerable to disease —— to covid, and catching up on other childhood immunisations, so things like the mmrjab, purchasing a big drop during the pandemic. what mmrjab, purchasing a

the snp's nicola sturgeon also saying we should offer refuge to as many ukrainians as possible.n echoed by a number of tory mps as well, like the npjulian smith, who has called for immediate sanctuary follows fleeing the war in ukraine. some people are calling for ministers to set up a similar refugee scheme to the one that was set up under taliban took over in afghanistan last summer. what we do know at the moment is that the prime minister has said that of course we will welcome refugees, but there is a question, as chris mentioned in his report, about how many and when this might happen. the official line we have from the home office at the moment is that they are working with european partners to try to establish a plan in response to this, but they say that has to be practical and in the best interests of the ukrainian people. chelsea's russian owner has announced he's giving up control of the club. roman abramovich, who is said to be close to president putin, announced last night that he's handing over stewardship to the trustees of chelsea's charitable foundation. tim all

in other news — nicola sturgeon says the covid certification scheme and face mask laws will come to anscotland, but says she's determined to keep testing people. and storm franklin leaves disruption in its wake — with floods along the river severn and people evacuated from their homes. good afternoon and welcome to bbc news. russian president vladimir putin has asked legislators for permission to use force outside russia, which could pave the way for a broader attack on ukraine. it comes as the uk announced it is imposing sanctions on five russian banks and three billionaires, in response these areas are run by moscow these areas are run by moscow backed these areas are run by moscow backed separate tasks. this afternoon from the upper house of the russian parliament gave the president permission to use force outside russia which could pave the way for a broader attack on ukraine. let's hear what president putin has been saying in the past half hour. what saying in the past half hour. what i'm talking _ saying in the past half hour. what i'm talking about _ saying in the past half hour

scotland's first minister nicola sturgeon has also commented, tweeting that. . ..re the same mob that surrounded michael gove outside his department, they were the same mob that attacked nick watt. these are people who do not discriminate, theyjust hate all of us because we represent the so—called establishment. and while the protest and its causes are debated, so, too, is the broader issue of whether the original claim was acceptable. dan hodges of the mail on sunday picks this up, arguing that... he goes on... we know that the starmer—savile claim has circulated on far—right websites. but after it was used in parliament, ministers have defended its use. here's the bbc�*s chris mason explaining that... they argue if labour holds boris johnson responsible for all lockdown parties at number ten even if he did not attend it so too can they hold the labour leaderfor not attend it so too can they hold the labour leader for things that happened while he was in charge. the point is the prime ministers meeting — the point is the prime ministers meeting a — the point is th

this morning the scottish first minister nicola sturgeon said based on thejcvi recommendations she isntenced to three years in jail. after he was accused of stealing more than £200,000. more than 700 people received wrongful criminal convictions because of the faulty horizon system. it is the most widespread miscarriage ofjustice in british legal history. the government said the inquiry would ensure at the same mistakes would not be repeated. harjinder butoy�*s life was irreparably damaged in 2007 by the post office. today he has told the public inquiry some of the consequences he is still living with. i've been applying forjobs ever since i left prison. with no luck. moving on to personal impact, what has been the psychological impact on you, do you think, of all this experience? everything hasjust fallen apart for me. i've got no confidence in myself any more. like so many branch managers, he had always had problems with the post office's accounting software. it was frequently wrong. £100 out here, £200 there. harjinder told me he had raised concerns, but nothing had ever been resol

the other thing that we are expecting nicola sturgeon to talk about is itself isolation.ms morning. a lovely site and just further down the river, you can't see from here, but the temporary flood defences are out and they are holding at the moment. let me show you the river levels here. you can just see. look how high the river severn is at the moment, because of rain over the last few days, it comes down the hills from wales and then the river levels increase. it takes around 48 hours for this to be realised what people here are worried. but they are also used to flooding. flooding happens here, happened in 2000, 2007, 2014 and 2020. the environment agency are worried here, they are talking about the river level peaking at around 6.8 metres but it has not peaked at the moment. it could peak later on today, possibly this evening, maybe even tomorrow. the local council are worried about 60 properties here, saying they could be at risk. some have flooded a little bit down there but that means the residents are having trouble accessing their properties. i have been told, abo

prime minister, gordon brown, who is a supporter of the club, and also from the first minister, nicola sturgeon here? i think, on that point, we have just received the statement — it was on raith rovers's website this morning. there has been mounting pressure from all angles, as i said — from politicians, from within the club, from the community, and yes, i think you're right. the key point which i think we possibly do need clarity on is the player will not be "selected" by raith rovers. he was signed by raith rovers on monday and they would enter into discussions regarding the contractual position. so, in terms of reaction. and some people as we've been saying have taken really strong steps on this. they've left their jobs. presumably they won't settle for a situation where he stays on the payroll, so this presumably has some time to run? yes, i think people will start reacting to this. i was told just as i came on that val mcdermott has reacted on twitter. i haven't had a chance to look at that tweet. yesterday, she was on radio four's women's hour, she said she was a sponsor of the club, she

in the last hour, nicola sturgeon has been speaking about ukraine and says the crisis could be the mosthistory to hit putin hard with the severest of sanctions so that he understands that there will be consequences for his imperialist aggression or we don't do that and he becomes further emboldened so it is really important that the international community stands together and in solidarity with ukraine as it defends its independence and sovereignty but also stand together to act in a way that shows putin and dictators like him where there are serious consequences for this kind of action. ~ ., ., consequences for this kind of action. ., ., , ., , consequences for this kind of action. ., ., , action. what action should be taken? london is awash _ action. what action should be taken? london is awash with _ action. what action should be taken? london is awash with russian - action. what action should be taken? london is awash with russian money| london is awash with russian money and the uk government was target that wealth, those assets wherever they are and the russian interests that bene

secondary schools will no longer need to wear face coverings and classrooms from february the 28, nicola sturgeonts that have recently been sent to the area. also, russia and belarus, who are close allies and both border ukraine, have started 10 days ofjoint military drills. last week, president biden sent us troops to poland, germany and romania. speaking at a joint press conference with nato chief jens stoltenberg in brussels, the uk prime minister borisjohnson said it's the "biggest security crisis europe has faced for decades." the uk's commitment to european security is unconditional and immovable. we have the biggest defence budget in europe and the second largest in nato. we have contributed more troops than any other ally to nato's enhanced forward presence and today i agreed with the secretary general a package of support to strengthen further our collective security, sending troops, planes and ships to defend nato from north to south. but the stakes are very high and this is a very dangerous moment. and at stake are the rules that protect every nation, every nation, big and small. our e