yes this was a big day for keir starmer. he is had some - for keir starmer.ism — for keir starmer. he is had some criticism about the kind of lack of vision _ criticism about the kind of lack of vision of— criticism about the kind of lack of vision of the labour party and policy— vision of the labour party and policy announcements. so today he did come _ policy announcements. so today he did come out and do a speech at another— did come out and do a speech at another couple of things. one of the headlines— another couple of things. one of the headlines was really to emphasise the relationship with business, and secondly— the relationship with business, and secondly was around these bonds, and the idea _ secondly was around these bonds, and the idea is— secondly was around these bonds, and the idea is that if labour was in power— the idea is that if labour was in power that— the idea is that if labour was in power that they would have bonds that would allow people who have a committed savings to invest back into communities, back into this country— into commun

he said no new ideas into keir starmer's speech.— into keir starmer's speech.er the course — future. he was saying over the course of — future. he was saying over the course of the next few months, labour — course of the next few months, labour will _ course of the next few months, labour will be setting out its prospectus for how we deal with these _ prospectus for how we deal with these problems. this is the vision that we _ these problems. this is the vision that we believe is compelling, and i believe _ that we believe is compelling, and i believe in _ that we believe is compelling, and i believe in that, we did a good job. you worked — believe in that, we did a good job. you worked for the former leader, ed miliband, who is obviously still in the shadow cabinet. is this enough of a change from the old miliband —type messages, which of course lost the election. i -type messages, which of course lost the election-— the election. i think where there is a chance the election. i think where there is a change is — the election. i think where there is a change is

i think keir starmer is known — over critical. i think keir starmer is known to— over critical.follower of the poles. knows it's really not to his advantage to come out swinging back _ his advantage to come out swinging back. but— his advantage to come out swinging back. �* ., , , his advantage to come out swinging back. �* . , , . .., back. but he has been quite critical in recent months. _ back. but he has been quite critical in recent months. i _ back. but he has been quite critical in recent months. i don't _ back. but he has been quite critical in recent months. i don't think- back. but he has been quite critical in recent months. i don't think it'sl in recent months. i don't think it's fair to say he hasn't been critical. i'm not sure that he has. some key moments _ i'm not sure that he has. some key moments he — i'm not sure that he has. some key moments he seems to be in lockstep with boris— moments he seems to be in lockstep with borisjohnson. where he is critical— with borisjohnson. where he is critical is — with borisjohnson. where he is critical is on some of the fol

it is a really good start from keir starmer— a really good start from keir starmer in my view._ are saying we should go further but it sets out — are saying we should go further but it sets out how things would be differently if he was prime minister. differently if he was prime minister-— differently if he was prime minister. ., ., ,, ., ., minister. you can talk about all the olicies minister. you can talk about all the policies you — minister. you can talk about all the policies you like, _ minister. you can talk about all the policies you like, but _ minister. you can talk about all the policies you like, but if _ minister. you can talk about all the policies you like, but if they - minister. you can talk about all the policies you like, but if they are i policies you like, but if they are not delivered _ policies you like, but if they are not delivered by— policies you like, but if they are not delivered by a _ policies you like, but if they are not delivered by a credible i not delivered by a credible ieadership— not delivered by a credible leadership that _ not delivered

sir keir starmer toda he -- get on with it. sir keir starmer today he thought _ -- get on with it. he thought the prime minister was falsely accusing him of wanting to be part of the eu vaccination scheme, but he's had to apologise. borisjohnson was talking about the medical agency trying to conflate that with the european vaccines to current. keir starmer was saying he's never wanted to join that, but he's never wanted to join that, but he was referring to the vaccine. but i tell you what, i think it's a good thing. if a politician makes a mistake like keir starmer did, he said i got that wrong, i think that's refreshing. i wish more politicians would do that. thank you ve much politicians would do that. thank you very much indeed. _ politicians would do that. thank you very much indeed. jonathan - politicians would do that. thank you i very much indeed. jonathan ashworth, labour's health spokesman. you're watching bbc news.

keir starmer create a new deal for towns.ter role in our lives than ever, he must make clear what labour would do differently. nearly two million people haven't worked for at least six months, because they are either unemployed or fully furloughed — according to research from the think tank the resolution foundation. it's calling for the government's furlough scheme to remain in place for several months after lockdown is eased. our economics correspondent andy verity has more. this couldn't happen right now, but before the pandemic this video promoted a viable profitable one stop shop wedding business in worcestershire, supplying everything from flower arrangements, to disco floors, to chair covers. the only thing that's made it unviable are government restrictions imposed to fight covid, and eight staff have been on furlough for much of the past year. as a business we've lost over £300,000. we've postponed over 200 weddings. yeah, it's mounting up day by day. the government support for us has been really, really good so far.

it is critical -- >> keir starmer? >> i am none the wiser to whether the prime minister agrees with me that school teachers and school staff should be vaccinated taking advantage of the february half term. that is two or three weeks away. a fantastic opportunity. is that a good idea or a bad idea? in the meantime, the government has a duty to ensure every single child can learn from home without access to a laptop or computer or the internet, that cannot happen. the government was challenged on this last summer. it was challenged on it last august. here we are. the end of january. a third of families say they doubt have enough laptops or home computers. 400,000 children still cannot get online at home. does the prime minister realize how angry many families are, but he still has not come to grips with the echo >> mr. speaker i think just now i fully understand the frustration and impatience of families across the country who are educating their children at home. i know teachers are frustrated with home educating, remot

the labour leader, sir keir starmer, agreeing with many in i starmer, agreeing with many in government as new variants, some of those coming in from abroad, so what do you do about it? well, the labour leader seemed very keen to have tougher proposals. he said that lots of the government scientists had suggested that you either close the border completely or you quarantine everybody. now, the response from government is very much that it is simply not practicalfor government is very much that it is simply not practical for the government is very much that it is simply not practicalfor the uk, it imports so many medicines, so much food, that itjust wouldn't be practical to do that, and boris johnson saying, look, we have already tightened things a lot, you now need a negative test before you come into the country, you have to fill in a form saying what you will quarantine, and of course there is the problem that some variants, they do suspect, started in this country, so it wouldn't help everything. i think whether government has more of a problem is that, a week ago, they talked a lot

keir starmer turned to the budget.er at least agree with me today that now is not the time for tax rises for families and for businesses? it's preposterous for him, mr speaker, to talk about tax rises when he stood on a manifesto only a yearago, mr speaker — a little over a year ago — to put up taxes by the biggest amount in the history of this country. the truth is this. the government spent a decade weakening the foundations of our economy and our country. as a result, we have the highest death toll in europe. we have the worst recession of any major economy. families are facing council tax rises and millions can't afford to self—isolate. and all the prime minister offers is a return to business as usual. he vacillates, mr speaker, we vaccinate! and we're going to get on with our agenda, cautious but irreversibly taking this country forward on a one—way road to freedom, and i very much hope that his support which has been so evanescent in the past will genuinely prove irreversible this time, mr speaker. the united ki

the labour leader, keir starmer, wrote... when you walk through a storm, hold your head up high...and the singer michael ball — whose duet with captain tom helped him to break yet another record as they made it to number one — said...

it's a really good start from starmer in my view.ts out how things would be different if he was prime minister, ultimately the country would be in a better place. you can talk about all the policies you like, but if they're not - delivered by a credible leadership that people can believe can - actually deliver them, - then they won't go down well with the public. and do you think he has managed to get that impression across? yes, most definitely. keir starmer says a labour government would actively support the economy. the conservatives point out they've just spent almost £300 billion doing just that. it shows how difficult it is being distinctive as opposition leader during a national emergency. elections across the uk in may will be the first test of whether voters like what they've heard so far. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. one of britain's top retail bosses lord wolfson, who runs next, is calling on the chancellor to slash business rates to give company's a financial boost and help save the high street. the business rates

i think the problem with sir keir starmer remains to fault. party which, by the nature of this pandemic, because of what has happened in this country over the course of the past year has had to intervene, put a lot of money into supporting businesses and families, so when keir starmer argues for a greater role for the state he is up against a conservative party which, right now, is having to do that, so it is whether or not he can differentiate and make his party offers distinctive enough and whether he can cut through to voters, who of course are preoccupied by this public health emergency. preoccupied by this public health emergency-— preoccupied by this public health emerten . , , , , emergency. yes. different times, aren't they? _ make you very much for now, alex forsyth. lots more coming up in the next half an hour, but we will pause and catch up an hour, but we will pause and catch up with the weather prospects, wherever you are in the country. louise lear has slows. —— has those. hello there. morning rain is clearing away out to the nor

keir starmer. nonsense, don't let the truth get in the way of a preprepared gag. prime minister knows i've never said that from this dispatch box or anywhere else, but the truth escapes him. well, borisjohnson said the evidence was there on youtube. the debate continued behind the speaker's chair and sir keir later admitted he'd made a mistake. the success of the vaccine programme has fuelled calls by conservative mps to re—open england's schools. the health secretary found himself in the firing line. parents are desperate to have the schools opened, the teachers want the schools opened, the businesses want the schools opened, and — god bless them — even our children are desperate to have the schools opened. so, will my right honourable friend confirm that schools will be the first to reopen on or before the 8th of march? i can confirm what the prime minister has set out, that schools will be the first in the queue for reopening. but not before the 8th of march. a critic of the government's approach sought assurances that restrictions would be lifted sooner rather

and in the commons today, sir keir starmer, j the commons today, sir keir starmer, he was challengednd potentially criticise the government, and borisjohnson hits back with phrases like, captain hindsight. and i think what was interesting today, in the house of commons, some of the issues that keir starmer was trying to pick up on, he was trying to say that he and the labour party were pro—business, that they want to extend business rate relief, he was pressing the prime minister on that, the prime minister were saying things like, you have to wait until the budget. he wants to extend the furlough scheme beyond the current date as well, sir keir starmer trying to paint himself as more pro—business than the conservative party, and as well he was talking, the labour party have had quite a lot of talk recently about the issue of border saying there should be a more competitive hotel quarantine border policy. so that was really the labour leader's line of attack, but borisjohnson as you say hitting back at the labour leader and saying that in his view, the uk has one of the toughest bord

the labour leader keir starmer.lustrator of captain tom's picture book for young readers �*one hundred steps'. he explained how he got involved in that project. oh, it was just a wonderful project to work on. it sort of seemed to come out of the blue. one minute, i was watching channel 4, watching the kind of documentary about captain tom, just thinking, these pictures look so interesting. i would love to draw this. just thinking, not even really thinking very much about it. and then suddenly, i got this kind of like e—mail from puffin saying about the commission and it was just like a dream come true, it was a wonderful chance really to do something really good. so just tell us about what we see in the book, tell us about it, it's for young children, so it is a picture book, explain a bit more about it. so the picture book, it was just what i loved was the photographs from the 1920s and wartime images and things like that, so drawing that kind of thing is like absolute nectar to me. so i did lots of kind of sketche

it is a really good start from keir starmer in my view.out how things would be differently if he was prime minister. you can talk about all the policies you like, but if they are not- delivered by a credible leadership that people can believe can - actually deliver them, - then they won't go down well with the public. and do you think he has managed to get that impression across? yes, most definitely. kier starmer says a labour government would actively support the economy. conservatives point out they have just spent almost £300 million doing just that. it shows how difficult it is being distinctive as opposition leader during a national emergency. elections across the uk in may will be the first test of whether voters like what they have heard so far. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. sienna rodgers, is the editor of labour—list, a news website which is supportive of, but independent of, the labour party. shejoins us live from north west london. it was meant to arrive rail the beverage reforms which laid the foundation of the nhs and t

what are we expecting from sir keir starmer later?eadership in recent weeks. are we expecting an ideological speech from him? . ., , , ., from him? there will certainly be a lot of ideas — from him? there will certainly be a lot of ideas in _ from him? there will certainly be a lot of ideas in it _ from him? there will certainly be a lot of ideas in it and _ from him? there will certainly be a lot of ideas in it and it _ from him? there will certainly be a lot of ideas in it and it will- from him? there will certainly be a lot of ideas in it and it will be - lot of ideas in it and it will be split into two. there is the short term a bit, which is looking forward to the budget, which is a less than two weeks. keir starmer will say that the government should continue the temporary increase to universal credit and continue the vat cut for hospitality to help them cope with the pandemic. that means he can get a bit of credit if the government ends up doing any of those things. then there is the longer term bit, which is saying after the b

-- sir —— sir keir starmer. it did, ben.of opening up, five weeks minimum between each of the steps so that there is time to consider the evidence of what each relaxation of the rules means, and i think the government has learned and seen from the previous times, this is now the third lifting of the lockdown, back last year, the prime minister talked about the first lifting being the only one he wanted to do any talk about the impact of the economy if we went into another lockdown. we saw in the autumn, the spikes in cases we have seen since christmas and thousands more deaths, so real caution, and that is also backed up by some of the scientific analysis that was presented in the papers that was presented in the papers that have been released as well. so although we have seen pressure on the prime ministerfrom some of his backbenchers, as keir starmer said, we then heard that any questioning of the prime minister, conservative mps saying why not lift all of the research is by the end of april, the scientific modelling sugge

sir keir starmer said oxford university research suggested the uk lags behind others when it comes toy say that there are at least 33 countries around the world which currently have tougher restrictions than the united kingdom. 33, prime minister, including canada, denmark, japan, israel — there are many others. in fact, they say we are not even in the top bracket of countries for border restrictions. 50 days after we first discovered the south african variant — 50 days. how does the prime minister explain that? mr speaker, there are some countries in europe - that do not even have a hotel quarantine scheme _ such as the one _ we are putting in on monday. we have amongst the toughest border regimes— anywhere in the world. but people should understand that on a normal day, - mr speaker, this time of year you can awed— about 250,000 people to be arriving - in this country. we've got it down to about 20,000, _ 5000 of whom are involved in bringing vital things - into this country suchl as medicines and food as we discussed last week. and he agreed that. that was a good idea, mr speaker.

let's start to that speech a little bit earlier today by the labour leader, keir starmer, who's beenm the pandemic. he's proposed intoducing a "recovery bond" so people who've saved money in the past year, can invest in rebuilding the country. let's hear more of what he had to say. there is an opportunity here to think creatively, to build on this spirit of solidarity we have seen the last year. and to forge a new contract with the british people. the british people invest in building an economy that is more secure, and the government provides financial security for millions of people, many of whom have saved for the first time. if i were prime minister, i would the first time. if i were prime minister, iwould introduce the first time. if i were prime minister, i would introduce a new british recovery bond. this could raise billions to invest in local communities, injobs and in businesses, it could help build the infrastructure of the future. investing in science, skills, technology, and british manufacturing. it has also provide security for savers. and give millions of people a pro

sir keir starmer speaking to vicki young- _ with me now is political commentator steve richards. message of his speech and also of the timing? well, the message is the one that — of the timing? well, the message is the one that i _ of the timing? well, the message is the one that i think— of the timing? well, the message is the one that i think begins - of the timing? well, the message is the one that i think begins the - the one that i think begins the framing of an effective argument. that is all about active government working with others, including business, and it's a familiar argument. labour leaders and hope opposition have leave we use them —— use them many times. where he has gotten advantage now if he uses it effectively is that the sort of so—called battle of ideas have moved much more towards the state being a benevolent force. theresa may used to say let's talk about the good government can do, borisjohnson speaks of leveling up the left behind as a familiar phrase. implying agency to bring them back in. now, some people say that's a disadvantage for him because the

keir starmer has been very critical _ the virus.w long it has taken to bring that policy about and downing street today have said they have not yet agreed any formal contracts with hotels near airports and ports, but borisjohnson earlier argued that boris johnson earlier argued that the borisjohnson earlier argued that the uk's quarantine policy is amongst the toughest in the world and that those types of policies when it comes to clamping down on who can come into the country are much more effective, he says, when rates of the virus are very low. jessica parker, thanks forjoining us. let's speak now to markjit, professor of vaccine epidemiology at the london school of hygiene and tropical medicine. he's also a member of the scientific pandemic influenza group on modelling — which feeds into sage. good afternoon. how do you view this study about the oxford astrazeneca vaccine being less effective when it comes to preventing mild and moderate illness from the south african variant? 2,5 moderate illness from the south african variant?

— your keir starmer to ask in his approach? your keir starmer to ask in his auroach?ering the country is quarantine at the border so i think so keir starmer will be pushing for tighter controls. plans to quarantine people from certain countries in hotels has been announced but hasn't actually been implemented. i think there are lots of questions about why that is taking so long. the government says that there will be some logistics around it, but of course lots of hotels are empty, it can't be that difficult to do. i think is probably at that angle that sir keir starmer will want to talk about. the other big issue this week, northern ireland, the northern ireland protocol, which is all about how goods are moved partly from great britain into northern ireland, the czechs that have been going on there... �* ., ., , there... i'm going to enter up because we — there... i'm going to enter up because we are _ there... i'm going to enter up because we are going - there... i'm going to enter up because we are going to - there... i'm going to enter up because we are going to t

sir keir starmer was asked about his party �*s position this morning.g.— position this morning. ideally, i would like _ position this morning. ideally, i would like to _ position this morning. ideally, i would like to see _ position this morning. ideally, i would like to see all _ position this morning. ideally, i would like to see all schools - position this morning. ideally, i. would like to see all schools back open _ would like to see all schools back open on — would like to see all schools back open on march _ would like to see all schools back open on march the _ would like to see all schools back open on march the 8th, - would like to see all schools back open on march the 8th, and - would like to see all schools back open on march the 8th, and all. open on march the 8th, and all children— open on march the 8th, and all children back— open on march the 8th, and all children back in _ open on march the 8th, and all children back in school - open on march the 8th, and all children back in school then. . open on march the 8th, and all children back

thank you, mr speaker- — opposition, keir starmer. data supporting all of that has been available to the house since i announced it. i available to the house since i announced it.— available to the house since i announced it. i think the prime minister dodged _ announced it. i think the prime minister dodged that _ announced it. i think the prime minister dodged that question, announced it. i think the prime i minister dodged that question, no doubt because all those comments came from his own mps. some of the 60 or so members of the covid recovery group. perhaps the prime minister should have a word with them. another big threat, another big threat to the recovery plan is that around three in ten people who should be self isolating are not doing so. that is a huge gap in our defences, and the small changes on monday won't fix it. that's why labour has called for the £500 self isolation payment to be made available to everybody who needs it. will the prime ministerjust fix will the prime minister just fix this? will the prime minister

sir keir starmer has set out his vision for the uk — pledging a "moral crusade" to address inequalitiesrus. or we can seize the moment. he said coronavirus had proved the case for government to play a much bigger role in managing the economy. but working alongside business not attacking it. if were honest, for too long labour has failed to realise that the only way to deliver social justice and equality is through a strong partnership with businesses. under my leadership that mindset will change. one new policy idea is a british recovery bond offering people a savings account with the government. the cash raised will be used to get the country back on its feet after the pandemic. so what the bond does is it provides a way for people to invest in their fleet neck the future of their country obviously in a secure way. then it releases money for infrastructure projects. for those that haven�*t been able to save their other things that i said the other morning about universal credit, about the pay for workers. it�*s not either/or it�*s both. keir starmer says a labour government would activ

lets talk with the daily telegraph, sir keir starmer is issuing a call to arms, talk us through whatods useful to the contribution of the debate. he's in a difficult — contribution of the debate. he's in a difficult position because he doesn't — a difficult position because he doesn't want to politicise the whole pandemic — doesn't want to politicise the whole pandemic. he does want to be seen to be supportive of government in its actions. _ be supportive of government in its actions, and at the same time he is paid by— actions, and at the same time he is paid by taxpayers, he gets money to beat the _ paid by taxpayers, he gets money to beat the leader of her majesty public— beat the leader of her majesty public opposition and well done to board _ public opposition and well done to board a _ public opposition and well done to board a sign of a fabulous and mature — board a sign of a fabulous and mature democracy. he has this problem — mature democracy. he has this problem of how to he fight the government when he can't be seen to be politicising and always being the awkward _ be poli

the debate continued behind the speaker's chair and so keir starmer later admitted he had made a mistakeecretary found himself in the firing line. secretary found himself in the firing line-— firing line. parents are different _ firing line. parents are different to _ firing line. parents are different to have -- i firing line. parents are - different to have -- desperate different to have —— desperate to have schools open, teachers want the schools open, business wants the school opened and god bless them even children are desperate to have schools opened. so will my right honourable friend confirmed that schools will be the first to reopen on or before march eight? i to reopen on or before march eiaht? .., to reopen on or before march eiht? _, to reopen on or before march eiaht? ., eight? i can confirm what the prime minister _ eight? i can confirm what the prime minister has _ eight? i can confirm what the prime minister has set i eight? i can confirm what the prime minister has set out i eight? i can confirm what the i prime minister has set out that schools— prime minister has set o

from nicola sturgeon, keir starmer, or their own conservative mps nicola sturgeon, keir starmer, or theiruntil easter. he misspoke. what you meant to say was that government's existing policy, which is they hope to get schools back on the 8th of march at the earliest, and they will make a decision about that in a couple of weeks in february. adam, thank ou couple of weeks in february. adam, thank you very _ couple of weeks in february. adam, thank you very much _ couple of weeks in february. adam, thank you very much for _ couple of weeks in february. adam, thank you very much for clearing i thank you very much for clearing everything up. thank you. investigators from the world health organisation have completed their initial investigation into the origins of the pandemic in wuhan. a group of 10 scientists have spent nearly a month in the chinese city — and have interviewed people from a virus research facility, hospitals and the food market which was linked to the initial outbreak. they're going to hold a news conference shortly. the impeachment trial of donald trump starts today in wash

marks 115 years since care hardy's british labor party was formally named now run by knighted kier starmer but the patriotic divide in hardy's opposition to world war one seemingly lives on after leaked internal strategy documents recommend labor embracing flags the military and dressing up smartly at war memorials the game of national identity politics and union flag known by some as the butcher's apron are explored in dr james trafford's new book the empire at home internal colonies and the end of britain he joins me now from london james welcome to going underground what a what a week for me to be talking to your business in the past few days the labor leader has a guest star is being told by focus groups are wrapping himself in the flag and the entire country has been mourning the loss of an iconic coronavirus figure captain tom a veteran of cologne your warren in miran more. you say that the union flag is redolent of cologne your violence just intrinsically went when one sees the flag which makes it all more ironic perhaps that we're seeing the flag again again joins virus yeah absolu

underground 155 years to the day the british labor party was named today the party's new leader secure starmer is said to be deploying national identity politics flags and patriotism to help his failing poll numbers and god too i'll be talking to dr james trafford about how britain's brutal imperial empire lives on through british culture values and sense of self but 1st the biggest vaccination program in world history is being rolled out around the world and boris johnson says britain is world leading or we had a britain much harder hit by coronavirus than old g 7 countries joining me now from oxford in england is senior research fellow at oxford university collective responsibility for infectious disease program dr alberto jubilantly thanks so much alberto for coming on and i should ask 1st of all given that your an expert you've written about this before the pandemic how do you see the moral dimension to the current vaccine rollout here in britain i think that this government is it is risky is that it's mission a good job and i think the probably good general are because responding without

get accused of anti semitism bernie sanders jeremy corbyn here i'm just going to ask you how secure starmer they still called. another real silencing it says i'm not just b.d.s. but also criminalizing anybody are conflating anecdotes isn't it with anti-semitism this is how they manage to silence and to censor and the public discourse on every bit of israel as though you could stand single jews when we have lots of jewish sunday vanity groups and let this read and it's no longer there well i don't want to be associated with. this is a shame that lawlessness the leader the labor party has against office has jeremy corbin's behavior has been unacceptable which is why i can't take the parliamentary whip in in parliament but his shadow foreign secretary says just condemning israeli atrocities is anti semitic he's just appointed that's a kaplan with an advisor do you know anything about the 200 unit or is the israeli intelligence and why do you think the british labor party has offered a job to a former worker there. well look there was also a big scandal you had mentioned see that exposed the in

the labour leader, sir keir starmer, who's self—isolating, said behind every death was a grieving familycolleague, or neighbour. he wanted to hear the prime minister's explanation for the figures. the question on everyone�*s lips this morning is, "why?" the prime minister must�*ve thought about that question a lot. so can he tell us why he thinks that the united kingdom has ended up with a death toll of 100,000 — the highest number in europe? the prime minister said he mourned every death. mr speaker, when you have a new virus, and indeed, when you have a new variant of that virus, of the kind we have in this country, when you have dilemmas as hard and as heavy as this government has had to face over the last year, i must tell the right honourable gentlemen there are no easy answers. a perpetual lockdown is no answer, mr speaker. people have been asked to make huge sacrificesl by his government. at least they now deserve financial certainty. - tell people straight, - prime minister — will this uk government extend furlough, maintain the universal creditl uplift, and finally, i finally of

the daily mail reports that labour leader sir keir starmer is facing a backlash after one of his mostbenchers described the covid pandemic as a "gift that keeps on giving" for lawyers during a briefing at a top city firm. so let's begin... this time, nigel, you're going to kick ass off with the telegraph and the opportunity or suggestion that vaccines could be given at work for those under 50?— those under 50? yes, and this will be another — those under 50? yes, and this will be another progression. _ those under 50? yes, and this will be another progression. if- those under 50? yes, and this will be another progression. if all- those under 50? yes, and this will be another progression. if all goes well, it will mean the roll—out will be completed earlier. the idea, as you say, is that you give vaccines in the workplace, especially to those who are under 50. they are doing an awful lot to see how they can help people who can't work from home. for instance, it was announced today that they are extending the testing scheme in workplaces for firms that have 50 employees. at the moment, i

the labour party focus groups, as keir starmer was trying to work out how to get some purchase on boris, said, we don't like you to attack the government we want you to work together but we don't think you guys would do any better anyway. i think there is a large baseline of ease, as long as the numbers keep going in the right direction i think the public will be ok. in this country, in the us and elsewhere. other countries where things are not as advanced it may be different. annalisa, thank you for being with us. vaccination has been a problem in much of continental europe. we've got at least one governor in italy saying that he is looking to purchase vaccines of his own, he is so frustrated by the slower pace and italy had a hellish start to the pandemic last spring. a new government has just taken office. the man they used to call super mario, mario draghi. they called him that a decade ago during the financial crisis. how difficult a balancing act do he and other european leaders face in easing lockdown? it is a gigantic challenge of course because we are all in the same situation,

minutes later, after a whispered few words across the despatch box, borisjohnson clarified that keir starmerthe reopening of schools on the 8th of march. you're watching monday in parliament, with me, alicia mccarthy. it's been announced that there will be a large expansion of the number of people being asked to shield in england to protect them from covid—19. an extra 1.7 million people are expected to be added to the 2.3 million already on the shielded patient list. the move comes after a new method of identifying vulnerable people was used taking into account factors such as ethnicity and deprivation. the deputy chief medical officer was asked about the accurracy of the numbers when she faced the public accounts committee. the number itself represents about the right number of people that we will be contacting, so some of those letters would've gone last week and some of them are going this week to the auto population because they will have already received their vaccination. —— older population. they are protected because of lockdown. but what we will find because of that cautionary appr

sir keir starmer called for more people to get a 500 the education secretary has confirmed teachers ending year's gcse and a level grades. in a common statement, gavin williamson told mps mask could be determined using a range of marks from mock exams, coursework and essays. the grades will be published earlier than usual to allow more time for the appeals process. all of our children and young people have paid a considerable price for the disruption of the last year. it's not their learning off track, it's put their friendships to one side and put some of the wonder of growing up on hold. in short, mr speaker, it has caused enormous damage to what should've been a carefree and exciting part of growing up. i'm absolutely committed that we in this programme have extra funds and we can start to put this right. together with the measures we set out for a fair and robust allocation of grades, young people will be able to look forward to the next stage of their lives with confidence. he blamed the rogue algorithm for last year, but the real cause of the cast was not an algorithm. it was his inc

the labour leader sir keir starmer has visited heathrow airport to see preparations for the newport arrangementsr all international arrivals to face quarantine, not just passengers from the right list country he has one that the government's measures don't go far enough. government's measures don't go far enou . h. government's measures don't go far enou:h. . ., . , �* enough. our concern isn't their preparations. _ enough. our concern isn't their preparations, our— enough. our concern isn't their preparations, our concern - enough. our concern isn't their preparations, our concern is i enough. our concern isn't their i preparations, our concern is that enough. our concern isn't their - preparations, our concern is that we now know there are variants in countries that aren't on the red list, so this partial approach from the government isn't going to work. we are at a crucial stage where it is a race between the vaccine and variance and the only way through this is to buy time by having a comprehensive system of quarantine in hotels wherever you come from. the labour leader there on a visit to h

the labour leader, sir keir starmer, said government scientists had recommended "a complete pre emptivere of borders" or the mandatory quarantine of arrivals in the uk. but the prime minister said closing the borders completely wasn't practical. he insisted the uk has one of "the toughest regimes in the world". we know the south african variant is spreading across england, and measures are in place to try to deal with that. we also know that other variants are out there in other parts of the world. so is the prime minister really saying — just as a matter of common sense — is he saying that quarantining all arrivals would make no difference to fighting new variants of the virus? or is he saying that quarantining all arrivals at the border would make a difference but it's too difficult to do it? mr speaker, this is the right honourable gentleman who only recently said that quarantine measures were a blunt instrument, and whose shadow transport secretary said that quarantine should be lessened. we have one of the toughest regimes in the world, and i think when he calls for a complete clos