robertjenrick.d when nicola sturgeon knew about allegations of sexual harassment political life at the moment and it certainly dominated first ministers questions at holyrood. msps are investigating the scottish government handling of claims against alex salmond, who was cleared by a court of criminal charges. the committee has heard twice from nicola sturgeon�*s husband, the snp chief executive peter murrell, and the first minister is due to appear in the coming days. the acting tory leader focused on the women who'd complained about alex salmond's behaviour. these women were failed, they were failed by the system that was set up by her government, and while they were being failed, the first minister knew exactly we what she was meeting alex salmond about and she chose not to tell her officials in advance and she chose not to keep a record, and she kept speaking to alex salmond all throughout this process, throughout this process that failed all of these women. and then she came into this chamber a

robertjenrick described the plan he was announcing as an "unprecedented intervention".have all been moved by the stories we have heard. and the people that we have met, homeowners, placed in difficult, sometimes impossible situations through no fault of their own. i appreciate the frustration, the worry and at times the despair that they feel. i share their anger at the errors, the omissions, the false promises and even the outright dishonesty that came before us. leaseholders in residential high rises 18 metres or above wouldn't pay for cladding remediation works but those in blocks between four and six storeys would be able to access loans. under a long—term low interest scheme, no leaseholder will ever pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of unsafe cladding, many far less. but he said taxpayers, many of whom could only dream of owning their own home, couldn't be expected to pay the whole bill. so there'd be a levy on developers seeking to build some high rise buildings and from next year a new tax on the property development sector. this will raise at least

that was robertjenrick, the housing secretary.se blocks, over six storeys, over 18 metres, where they are saying this funding will go to cover all the costs of removing dangerous cladding, and the distinction with those who live in blocks that are lower than that, so four to six storeys high, where people will have to take out loans and pay back £50 a month. labour's thangam debbonaire, responding in the house of commons, called at a betrayal of a promise made that no leaseholders would pick up made that no leaseholders would pick up any of the cost. margaret hodge, the labour mp, has called it an outrage, saying, why should there be a distinction, given the height of the building, fire doesn't discriminate between height, neither should the government, they are failing leaseholders. and that is also something that the grenfell survivors group, grenfell united, have criticised and one cladding campaign, they have said that this means that people will be forced into debtjust because of the height of the building. and one other thin

confirming the extension to a ban on evictions in all but the most extreme cases, the housing secretary robertjenrickeasures strike the right balance, between protecting tenants and enabling landlords to exercise their right to justice. but across the housing sector and from opposition parties, there are calls for more financial support. emergency grants or loans, similar to schemes in scotland and wales. the government needs to make sure the resource is there, the support�*s there for people to be able to continue living in their own home and to plan for the future, so they make good on their promise that nobody should lose their home because of coronavirus. this extension to the ban on evictions may bring some relief to those most at risk of losing their home, but there is more uncertainty ahead. jonathan blake, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news... british prime minister borisjohnson comes under pressure from some of his own mps to end covid restrictions by the end of april. president trump suggests he could make a political comeback after he's cleared of inciting insurrection in his impeachment

communities secretary robertjenrick said the pandemic was responsible in some cases but in others "veryman described as "one of the most prolific child sex abuse offenders ever investigated" has been sentenced to 25 years in prison. david wilson pleaded guilty to 96 offences relating to 52 boys at ipswich crown court in november. some of his victims, who he targeted using social media, were as young as four. and, finally, to the perils and pitfalls of working from home online. zoom meetings have meant that millions of people haven't had to travel to work during the pandemic. and they've also provided some unexpected moments of comedy as people grapple with the technology. jon kay reports on the lawyer in texas who has unwittingly cheered up millions. rod ponton, west texas attorney, appearing in court over zoom. mr ponton, i believe you have a filter turned on in the video settings. you might want to... ah! we're trying to... can you hear me, judge? i can hearyou — i think it's a filter. it is, and i don't know how to remove it. i've got my assistant here, she's trying to but... it seem

confirming the extension to a ban on evictions in all but the most extreme cases, the housing secretary robertjenrickight balance between protecting tenants and enabling landlords to exercise their right to justice. but, across the housing sector and from opposition parties, there are calls for more financial support. emergency grants or loans are similar to schemes similar to schemes in scotland and wales. the government needs to make sure that the resources are there, the support is there, for people to be able to continue living in their own home and to plan for the future, so that they make good on their promise that nobody should lose their home because of coronavirus. this extension to the ban on evictions may bring some relief to those most at risk of losing their home, but there is more uncertainty ahead. jonathan blake, bbc news. it's been a difficult day for england's cricketers in india, as their batting collapsed on the second day of the second test. england were bowled out for 134 — leaving india with a lead of 249 and on course for what would be an emphatic win in chennai. joe wilson re

let's get more on this and speak to the communities secretary, robertjenrick.ving part of the government to wolverhampton. some will say it is a bit of a gimmick. well, i hope not. we want to move government departments beyond whitehall so that more civil servants are based in the regions of the country, making decisions and living amongst people they are actually seeking to serve, and my department will be the first to do that. we have chosen wolverhampton to be our dual headquarters, and by the end of this parliament, there will be at least 500 civil servants based in the west midlands, 800 by 2030. importantly, as well, ministers, myself included, will be working part of the week from those offices, and so we will be bringing the people making those decisions about people's lives much closer to the places they are serving. can i 'ust ask the places they are serving. can i just ask you _ the places they are serving. can i just ask you about _ the places they are serving. can i just ask you about the _ the places they are serving. can i just ask you about the

confirming the extension to a ban on evictions in all but the most extreme cases, the housing secretary robertjenrickeir right to justice. but across the housing sector and from opposition parties, there are calls for more financial support. emergency grants or loans similar to schemes in scotland and wales. the government needs to make sure that the resources are there, the support is there, for people to be able to continue living in their own home and to plan for the future, so that they make good on their promise that nobody should lose their home because of coronavirus. this extension to the ban on evictions may bring some relief to those most at risk of losing their home, but there is more uncertainty ahead. jonathan blake, bbc news. owners of kennels and catteries say they're struggling to survive because of travel restrictions imposed during the pandemic. the government says it has provided support to help protectjobs, but fewer animals boarding has inevitably led to a drop in income, as liz copper reports. at this kennels and cattery in staffordshire, the pandemic is having a big effect. it

confirming the extension to a ban on evictions in all but the most extreme cases, the housing secretary robertjenrickds to make sure that the resources are there, the support is there, for people to be able to continue living in their own home and to plan for the future, so that they make good on their promise that nobody should lose their home because of coronavirus. this extension to the ban on evictions may bring some relief to those most at risk of losing their home, but there is more uncertainty ahead. jonathan blake, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather with chris fawkes. story, we are not going to the weather. we will stay with the snow and ice in the netherlands. freezing temperatures in the netherlands have caused canals to ice over, meaning there are hopes the world's biggest skating competition on natural ice might go ahead. but coronavirus restrictions mean it's a politically charged issue as anna holligan reports. every formation brings hope the legendary race might just take place. everybody who skates, it's their dream to do it. you are talking about the elfstedentocht, ye

funding towards the cost of removing cladding is expected to be announced by the housing secretary, robertjenrickke reports. piece by piece, flammable cladding is removed from high—rise blocks across the uk — but figures show this work has been completed on fewer than half the buildings deemed unsafe, and home owners in the flats affected are living with the consequences. higher insurance costs, an inability to sell their homes, and bills for other fire safety measures have left many thousands worse off. there will be more bankruptcies. there will be more people losing their homes like i did. this is going to be such a disaster if we don't get the full help that this situation calls for. it's three and a half years since 72 people died in the fire at grenfell tower in london, where cladding on the outside of the building caused flames to spread. the government has allocated £1.6 billion to pay for similar dangerous cladding to be removed from buildings. but a committee of mps warned the true cost of all necessary work after grenfell could run to £15 billion. labour have said it's shameful that pe

housing secretary robertjenrick is expected to announce new support measures in the commons later. 0url correspondent jonathan blake reports. piece by piece, flammable cladding is removed from high—rise blocks across the uk — but figures show this work has been completed on fewer than half the buildings deemed unsafe, and home owners in the flats affected are living with the consequences. higher insurance costs, an inability to sell their homes, and bills for other fire safety measures have left many thousands worse off. there will be more bankruptcies. there will be more people losing their homes like i did. this is going to be such a disaster if we don't get the full help that this situation calls for. it's three and a half years since 72 people died in the fire at grenfell tower in london, where cladding on the outside of the building caused flames to spread. the government has allocated £1.6 billion to pay for similar dangerous cladding to be removed from buildings. but a committee of mps warned the true cost of all necessary work after grenfell could run to £15 billion. labour hav

confirming the extension to a ban on evictions, the housing secretary robertjenrick said they have toh with a look at this morning's weather. good morning. really cold today. probably the last of the cold days because things are turning milder. we have had beautiful sunrises. bringing different layers of plywood. beautiful scenes like this. this was in hastings. many of us waking up to beautiful pink colours in the sky. for much of the week ahead, milderairworking its way in. we are going to be losing the cold, frosty, icy nights, replacing that with unsettled weather. often windy. it is windy out there today. wherever you are you will notice the strength of the wind. turning clad and outbreaks of patchy rain working in. across scotland and northern england some of the rain could fall as freezing rain. that is liquid waterfalling into as freezing rain. that is liquid water falling into sub zero air. that can bring treacherous, icy conditions. gusts of wind likely to reach 60 miles an hour, 70 miles an hour. a typically windy and the irish sea and the western isles as well. certainly m

expecting that financial support to be stepped up that financial support to be stepped up when robertjenrickr and still the grand full disaster and still the key quest and remains, who remains further remedial works that everyone agrees needs to be done on thousands of buildings, mid—rise, high—rise and low—rise across the country which are still deemed to be unsafe. covered in flammable cladding. the government is coming under increasing pressure to address this issue. it is thought that thousands of people across the country are being slammed with high insurance costs to pay for this and other fire safety checks all identified in the wake of the disaster. mortgage lenders across the country, many of them are not lending money against these flats. not only are people trapped inside these unsafe buildings, they cannot sell them. they are worthless. this lady is one of those trapped in this situation. she bought herflat in leeds back in 2019. she had always had a dream to own our own home. a further 30. had a dream to own our own home. a further30. by had a dream to own our own home. a furthe

now, that point, the government could have stepped in, the community secretary robertjenrick could haveg, well, let's hope that the chinese provinces don't take this attitude, otherwise the world is toast. since then, the row has rumbled on. now doctor hansen has rumbled on. now doctor hansen has got involved. as you say, he is not a trivial figure. he knowsjoe biden, he knowsjoe biden�*s climate envoyjohn kerry. he is a powerful character and he has copied the letter that he sent to boris johnson. he has copied that tojohn kerry. he is trying to stir up as much embarrassment as possible. do you think the government in the uk is going to have to do more to say we have got these green credentials, we have got these green credentials, we are a leading government when it comes to going green, and yet we are allowing this coalmine to open and operate? there is some disagreement within government itself over this? there is indeed. mps have repeatedly, over the past several years, complained that the government is very good at talking green, and much less get up actually delivering policies.

how does that square with the statement from robertjenrick, who said the government's unprecedented intervention and the other building safety issues. then you have _ building safety issues. then you have other buildings that don't have building. _ have other buildings that don't have building, that have the building safety— building, that have the building safety issues. so, you know, yes it is an— safety issues. so, you know, yes it is an unprecedented amount of money but this— is an unprecedented amount of money but this is— is an unprecedented amount of money but this is an _ is an unprecedented amount of money but this is an unprecedented scandat _ but this is an unprecedented scandal. this is going to have a rippling — scandal. this is going to have a rippling effect upon millions of people — rippling effect upon millions of people for many years to come. there's— people for many years to come. there's also been the issue of how much the building industry itself should take in terms of responsibility and culpability. did you get any words of reassurance there? there is a future levy that i