we also operate universal credit, that will continue until next year and he champions universal credit and calls for it to operate steadily. >> the prime minister doesn't get it. it has been extended. the prime minister must know that doesn't apply to millions, for 7 months and there's a human cost. chris said to me our interest is devastated. it has fallen through the cracks. our businesses are falling and crashing each day. what will the prime minister say to chris and millions like him who are desperately waiting for the chancellor to address this injustice. >> to the whole country, the best way to get the country back on its feet, driving the virus down. it is a week since we entered into measures for the sacrifices they are making. of liverpool and elsewhere who are taking part. they are taking part in the mass testing work, it is fantastic news we have a realistic prospect of a vaccine. two big boxing gloves with which to pummel this virus but neither is capable of delivering on its own. they keep discipline and observe the measures we put in line, that they are giving for those

will the prime minister now commitment to universal credit at the current rate?prime minister. >> what she says about the impact of child poverty, the government worked so hard to combat child poverty, that is why we had universal credit, for the exceptional circumstances, 300,000 pounds through household and support people throughout the country. the most important thing we can do is to ensure the we get people to work and support families and get the jobs in creating jobs, new jobs in particular, 400,000 children out of poverty in the past 10 years and that is something that is not enough but it is progress. >> christopher. >> more than 1 million fellow citizens recovered after testing positive for covid-19. on the second of november the british medical journal reported that all those people have protection that would ensure they cannot be reinfected for six months. in light of that will my right honorable friend follow the example of sweden, exempt from all the covid-19 regulations those who tested positive in the last six months and show that he is following

organised criminal gangs have been abusing the universal credit system, as rules were loosened to copeandemic. officials told the bbc they've stopped as much as a billion pounds of taxpayers' money from being paid to fraudsters. our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, joins me. so they have uncovered some of it, michael, but is there a suspicion that there is a lot more? there is a concern there is a lot more and i've been told there are more than 1 million applications for universal credit within the system that still need checking and there is a concern that some of that may be fraudulent although the applicants may simply not be eligible for the benefit if, for instance, they have applied for some of the covid support schemes like the self—employed grant. there is also concerned that the highly automated universal credit system did not spot this particular scam and it was stopped effectively by a junior civil servant working with high street banks who noticed dozens of applications for the benefit were being rooted towards the same bank account. that led to further inves

i signed up to universal credit. i signed up to universal credit, as the chancellor said. because my new employer paid me for the 12 days i had worked in march. so straightaway at the beginning of lockdown, i took a pretty big financial hit and it did not get any better from there, if i'm honest. and this has had a big impact on your mental health, hasn't it, tim? what would you say to the argument that the government simply cannot save everyone, there is no money tree. i have heard that argument is a lot but he would not say it to an nhs worker trying to save life and frankly i have had more support from excluded uk with regards to helping with my mental health and i have from the government. —— than i have. there are so many solutions to fix all this. like i there are so many solutions to fix allthis. like i say, my employer retained me and i went back to work when the hospitality industry reopened injuly. when the hospitality industry reopened in july. my when the hospitality industry reopened injuly. my hmrc account shows that i worked for the same employer in march, r

i'm delighted that the right honourable gentlemen is now supporting a universal credit because he washe last election and yes, of course that uplifting continues and i'm delighted to say that the furlough scheme is extended all the way through to march as well and that will support people across our whole united kingdom, protectingjobs and livelihoods around the whole uk in exactly the way that we both would want. borisjohnson. now to the lords, where the government suffered a big defeat over its controversial internal market bill. the bill gives ministers the power to break international law by allowing them to row back on bits of the brexit divorce deal agreed with the eu last year. the brexit treaty boris johnson signed kept northern ireland aligned with the eu for trading standards and customs rules to avoid checkpoints at the border between northern ireland and the republic. but the government is worried that the eu could insist on intrusive checks on goods going to northern ireland from the rest of the uk. and that's why ministers want the power to break the treaty. but peers we

the government would point to this £20 a week top up in universal credit, olivia?nd april, which is when it was supposed to end. but this is a very worrying story because if middle—class people are going to be using food banks from now on, what's happening to the people who are using them before? it shows exactly how quickly we've slipped into sup a deep recession, from record employment to this. it is seriously alarming and it will only get worse. soa alarming and it will only get worse. so a sick gary story in the guardian. front page of the ft, all eyes on the united states election. rob? i so much want to say that donald trump is going to lose. the greatest shock ever if trump is to pull it off. the figures are disastrous for him. not only that biden has been a in every single pole by huge margins, not only that biden is ahead in all the battle ground states, but the vast number of people who voted already, 90 million people have voted already in the states. the evidence must be that those are the people going to the polls who haven't been before because they'r

organised criminal gangs have been abusing the universal credit system, as rules were loosened to copeofficials told the bbc they've stopped as much as a billion pounds of taxpayers' money from being paid to fraudsters. our social affairs correspondent, michael buchanan, has more. there is a concern there is a lot more and i've been told there are more than 1 million applications for universal credit within the system that still need checking and there is a concern that some of that may be fraudulent although the applicants may simply not be eligible for the benefit if, for instance, they have applied for some of the covid support schemes like the self—employed grant. there is also concerned that the highly automated universal credit system did not spot this particular scam and it was stopped effectively by a junior civil servant working with high street banks who noticed dozens of applications for the benefit were being rooted towards the same bank account. that led to further investigations which revealed more than 100,000 fraudulent applications for universal credit is with gangs us

i'm delighted that the right honourable gentleman is now supporting universal credit, because he wasast election. yes, of course, that uplifting continues, mr speaker, until march. and i'm delighted to say that the furlough scheme is being extended right the way through to march as well. that is for people across our whole united kingdom, protecting jobs and livelihoods in exactly the way that he and i would both want. a labour mp raised the result of the us election. the prime minister spoke for many of us when he took a call yesterday to congratulate president elect biden and president elect biden and president elect biden and president elect harris on their emphatic win in the us presidential election. so does the prime minister now have any advice for erstwhile best friend, president trump, whose continuing refusal to accept the result is both embarrassing for him and dangerous for american democracy? well, mr speaker, i had and have a good relationship with the previous president. i do not resile from that. it is the duty of all british prime ministers to have a good relationshi

those excluded from government support‘s or is he still refusing to make the speedy fixes to universal creditlf—employed, and why won't he provide families with certainty by ensuring the increase in universal credit is continued beyond april the imf has made clear time and time again that now would be the worst time to slam on the bra kes be the worst time to slam on the brakes and put the car into reverse. they have called for a meaningful additional push from our government to maintain fiscal support until the recovery is on a sound footing. the uk's gdp is 10% smaller now than it was at the end of last year. we have seen was at the end of last year. we have seen the worst downturn in the g7, we needed ambitious action today to assimilate growth and maintain demand. we need the government to ta ke demand. we need the government to take responsibility for the real reasons why people in communities are being held back up and down the country. 0ver are being held back up and down the country. over the last ten years, child poverty has risen by 600,000. we have had the worst decade prepay growt

government is in such a difficult fiscal position is that it has been increasing things like universal credit of money protecting the british public from the worst excesses of the terrible pandemic, but we have all been living through, and the numbers that we re living through, and the numbers that were revealed in this ft article, gdp, the national income level and by 11% in the last year, meaning that even by the time of the next election, 2024, £60 billion of revenue will be lost to the british chancellor, to the british exchequer. that is £60 billion that will not be spent on cancer treatments or the schools or 100 100 things that normally a british government will want to spend money on, so it is a very difficult situation, and of course is difficult situation already without knowing whether we might be having further lockdowns and further very tricky economic times in the months coming into the new year, so we will get a statement from rishi sunak, the chancellor, next week on the kind of tough decisions that he will be taking in these early stages of this economic crisis, but i think w

he stood on a manifesto to abolish universal credit!. this week on lbc, spoke to a self—employed photographer called chris. he said to me, "our industry has been devastated, there are 3 million of us who have fallen through the cracks, our businesses are falling, absolutely falling and crashing each day." he asked me to raise that with the chancellor and i will do the next best thing. what would the prime minister say to chris and millions like him who are desperately waiting for the chancellor to address this injustice? mr speaker, what i would say to chris and what i say to our right honourable gentleman and the whole country is the best way to get hisjob working again, the best whole country is the best way to get his job working again, the best way to get this country back on its feet, is to continue on the path that we are driving the virus down. and i'm grateful... i'm grateful to the people... this is a week since we went into the tough water measures we are now in we went into the tough water measures we are now in and i am grat

the definition of absolute poverty is £50,600 a year which is the sort of low were universal credit is. this is an issue, isn't it with every government is trying to confront, but as lizzie was saying with all the other spending commitments how politically imperative is it for the government to do this, do you think? it's a good question, and these a lot of causes but certainly it's a moral imperative. and i also think it's a political imperative to the extent that child poverty is worse in some of the areas where the conservatives won mps, in some cases for the first time ever. if they do wa nt for the first time ever. if they do want to level up as they put it, to reduce the gap between poor regions and the rest of the country then and in child poverty is absolutely at the heart of that, and it's also vital for the economy because of course children who grow up in poverty are denied opportunities that others are and it's much harder to achieve social mobility for every child to prefilled the potential they have if poverty becomes ingrained, and it's also significant that the uk has g

i am supposedly temporary increase in universal credit. i reckon there are spending increases down the road that are not counted for. if that is the case, we will notjust have the hundreds of millions of pounds borrowing that the budget for fiscal responsibility was suggesting, but rather more than that. not the 20 billion or so of tax rises needed to stabilise the public finances, but may be 40 billion or so of tax rises. so i think there are still a lot of really tough decisions to be made. is that reasonable, that lack of detail, given the level of uncertainty, and we still don't know whether there is a trade deal for the transition period, we don't know is how the economy is going to rebound, hopefully, once we get into a vaccination programme against covid next year. isn't there a bit of wait and see going on with the government? my point is less about lack of detail, and more about access optimism about the requirements for public spending. so, the chancellor's plans are predicated on him being able to cut spending, relative to what

uplifted universal credit. what we wa nt to uplifted universal credit.ssible. in the meantime, we are giving them every possible support. the prime minister must understand there is a huge gap in the system. if you cannot afford to isolate, there is little point in being tested or traced. whilst the prime minister and chancellor will not pay people enough to isolate properly, we learned this week that they can find £21 million of taxpayer's money to pay a go—between to deliver lucrative contracts to the department of health. £21 million! i will remind the prime minister that a few weeks ago he could not find that amount of money for free school meals for children over half term. does the prime ministers think that £21 million to a middle man was an acceptable use of public money? when this crisis began, we were being urged by the right honourable gentleman to remove the blockages in our procurement process in order to get ppe. we were facing, as he will remember, a very difficult situation where across the world there were not adequate supplies of ppe. n

the contacts are all of this is that it's been in unprecedented demand for universal credit because ofnment relax some of the rules and some of the processes associated with the benefit in order to process the sheer number of applications. and that has given criminal gangs, organised criminal gangs an opportunity to try to hack the system. indeed what they did in this case is they used stolen identities in order to make multiple applications. of what those relatively junior civil servant spotted was that dozens of applications were all being routed towards a one bank account. had these applications been successful, all the money would have gone into that one bank account. they stop that one bank account. they stop that particular fraud and then a wider investigation took place in that revealed there were more than 100,000 fraudulent claims in the system to stop at officials calculate that by stopping that fraud they save taxpayers somewhere in the region of £1 billion. while they did stop the vast majority of they did stop the vast majority of the fraud, they did unwittingly confirm so

allowa nce of carers uk, increase carers allowance by £20 a week stopping the same applies for universal creditpeople a lifeline. i am very grateful to unpaid carers in particular for everything they have done to keep this country going through the pandemic. i will look at the pandemic. i will look at the proposal that he makes that they will just remind the proposal that he makes that they willjust remind him of they willjust remind him of the colossal interventions we have already made, worth £200 billion to createjobs have already made, worth £200 billion to create jobs and support livelihoods. we will continue, as i say, to put our arms around the people of this country. after the main speeches, other mps got their chance to question the prime minister. and there was a furious response to the new restrictions from some including conservative backbenchers. i will not be supporting the government's legislation on wednesday because as we drift further into an authoritarian, coercive state, the only legal mechanism left open to me as to vote against that legislation. that is all we have got let

i am proud this government helped to fund them to the tune of billions of pounds not just universal credit but $1.1 billion going to help. this government will ensure no child goes hungry this christmas, this winter thanks to any inactivity. never forget it was the conservative government instituted preschool meals for 5, 6 and 7-year-olds all the years labor was in power. >> watching the constituency, the companies this week started predicting a van, manufacturing at the lowest level for 25 years. it would benefit massively from the certainty of knowing the components of vehicles will move free of tariffs between the uk and countries of the european union for the new year. can he provide good news about concluding a deal with the eu to the sector, its workers and their families. >> i believe such a deal would be massively in the interest of friends and partners but what i can tell him, is we are supporting green technology of all kinds particularly hybrid battery vehicles and 49 million pounds, the kind of vehicles inspected and driven together so that our country can bounce back. >> the

officials say they've stopped criminal gangs stealing over £1 billion through fraudulent claims for universal credittions for the benefit, made using stolen identities, were rejected after being traced back to a handful of addresses. this is bbc world news, the latest headlines: france is to ease its strict coronavirus lockdown, as president macron announces his country has passed the peak of the second wave. we'll have more on that in a moment. christmas has been given the go—ahead across the uk — with ministers from all four nations agreeing that families can celebrate together. asjust mentioned, the french president has announced some of the country's strict lockdown rules will be eased this weekend, which will allow shops to reopen. in a televised address on tuesday evening, emmanuel macron said the bulk of lockdown restrictions would be eased from the 15th december for the festive period. the country has reported more than 2.2 million cases of covid—19 and more than 50,000 confirmed coronavirus—related deaths since the start of the pandemic. joining us now from paris is tomasz michalski, who's

people who struggle the most and manage their finances, at the moment, it's a welcome boost to universal creditsupport for lots of out of work families, it is set to phase out at the end of march so set to phase out at the end of march so it would be good for the government to commit to keeping that in place. is there a lodger, perhaps, we were going to have a job support scheme from today but that has been overtaken by events in england because of the national lockdown, and furlough being continued, would it help if the government said, look, we're going to leave this in place until say, the end of march as denmark and we might tweak the amounts according to how many businesses need it and the scale but basically, you will have the reassurance of knowing if you go into another lockdown, let say in january or february, that scheme will still be in place? it would be welcome to see more certainty from the government in terms of economic support they're offering for businesses. now there has been four changes in about a month to the support. the job support scheme was introduced and then tweak an

place a system of support so that if you have to isolate and you are eligible for benefits and universal credithe period that you have to isolate for. the government has now told us it is looking at ways to expand the scheme to cover the app, but others want to support to go further. the archbishop of canterbury will take a sabbatical next year for reflection, prayer and spiritual renewal. justin welby will begin his break in may 2021 and isn't expected back at work before september. lambeth palace said it was normal practice for archbishops to take time off from their official duties. ethiopia's prime minister, abiy ahmed, has refused efforts by the african union to mediate in what is fast becoming a civil war. his government forces have been battling with forces from the northern tigray region for the last three weeks. yesterday, mr ahmed in a tweet, warned that the he would do "all that is necessary to ensure stability" in tigray. since fighting began, hundreds of people have been killed and more than 30,000 refugees have fled to sudan. and in the latest development, ethiopia's military has

can he explain why on earth he is still going ahead with the appalling thousand pound cut in universal creditllions of families across the country at this incredibly difficult time? mr speaker, for those of the public sector who are less than 24 thousand pounds which is the medium wage, they will receive at least a fixed increase of £250, that's 2.1 million people, 38% of the workforce and it will depend of the exact salary they make, mr speaker. but it's a fixed £250 for all of those workers. the looming prospect of either a no—deal brexit or a minimalist one that will be very disruptive for businesses, and it's forecasted at 5.2% loss of potential gdp over the next 15 years, the governor has said we could see two to three times as bad a situation with a no—deal brexit. how much more economic carnage and unemployment should the british people expect with these two scenarios on top of coronavirus and its impacts? mr deputy speaker i say as our teams are hard at work and a very hopeful that we can reach a constructive agreement with our european friends and partners... in this covid crisis the

by lockdown now, so universal credit may increase.benefits introduced in the past, using both the equalities act and the human rights act, and if you wa nt to the human rights act, and if you want to challenge those benefits then they really do need to seek advice on that, and they can do that by talking to their local law centre for example possibly even to a local solicitor who deals with benefits and discrimination issues. this is from cathy watson smith in temperature who says if i encounter hostility from a staff member while using public premises, she goes on to mention the o2 in this instance, andi to mention the o2 in this instance, and i am talking to a lawyer so tell me ifi and i am talking to a lawyer so tell me if i overstepped the mark, she says and think the premises have been changed to offer more limited and less favourable access to wheelchair users, is there anything ican do? wheelchair users, is there anything i can do? she says about 02, i complain to their customer services at the time and got no response.” think

emerged that a junior civil servant foiled a plot by a criminal gang to steal £1 billion from the universal credito make claims, with the money paid into one bank account. further investigation showed there had been more than 100,000 fraudulent applications. the parents of harry dunn, who died after his motorbike was involved in a crash outside an raf base in northamptonshire have lost their high court battle against the foreign office over whether their son's alleged killer had diplomatic immunity. anne sacoolas — who was accused of driving on the wrong side of the road — was allowed to leave the uk after he died. scotland has become the first nation in the world to pass legislation making products for periods freely available. the scottish parliament voted unanimously in favour of the period products bill, which makes it a legal right to have free access to sanitary products in public buildings. changes to quarantine rules mean people arriving in england from abroad from 15th december will be able to more than halve their time in isolation, if they pay for a covid test after five days. the tests

place a system of support so that if you have to isolate and you are eligible for benefits and universal crediteriod that you have to isolate for. the government has now told us it is looking at ways to expand the scheme to cover the app but others want to support to go further. ethiopia's prime minister, abiy ahmed, who won the nobel peace prize, is facing a civil war. the country's northern tigray region has been engulfed in a conflict for the last three weeks between the government and tigray‘s leaders. yesterday, mr ahmed refused efforts by the african union to mediate, choosing instead to send in troops. in a tweet, mr ahmed warned that the he would do "all that is necessary to ensure stability" in tigray. hundreds of people have been killed and more than 30,000 refugees have fled to sudan since fighting began. the prime minsiter‘s senior advisor spoke to our correspondent and said negotions with tigray was not an option. we don't negotiate with criminals. when it comes to criminals, we bring them to justice, not to a negotiation table, and this has been the declared stated conscience of t

would be for the westminster government to make permanent a £20—a—week increase to the benefit universal credit that call today? because that is genuinely crucial support that families in wales know that they can rely on. well, i know, first minister, you want to distract from talking about your responsibilities as a government in order to avoid highlighting your failures... just trying. ..with the health service, your failures with the education system, and when it comes to the economy. you could've said yes. paul davies and mark drakeford. the very public departure of the prime minister's chief adviser dominic cummings followed reports of behind—the—scenes rows and infighting in boris johnson's team. when mps questioned the former head of the civil service, lord sedwill, who stood down earlier this year, they asked him what he made of recent events. these things happen from time to time. advisers come and go in government. and clearly, the prime minister wants to try and ensure he has the right support around him as he navigates through the next phase. but as for the specifics and the stories

prime minister of our strength and says money has been given to local councils to help children universal credit the relatively new social security system as being increased for a poor of children who why why you criticize why have you been criticizing our stance of his government over not extending the free school meals program to say. well i can't understand how he's got to this point politically let alone morally the fact is that he's right the money has been given to councils who according to the priorities they set will decide where to place the question of school meals for children and these councils are 10 years of suffering from austerity and cutbacks on a massive scale and some of those comes to the needy areas will in fact find it difficult to prioritize school bills and they have other public services to prioritize attend to also some of the car councils will take the money that boris johnson talks about and apply it to provide meals for help for children through the holiday period but other councils will have different priorities and won't so the thrust of my argument and concern is

of nniversal credit, instead of damaging us will the prime minister now commit to maintaining universal credit at least the current rate? >> prime minister. >> mr. speaker, she is right and what she says child poverty, that's why the government isd so hard to comba child poverty and that is why we can operate univerl credit rights for the circumstances with the households and we will continue to support people throughout this country but the most important thing that youan do is to ensure that we get people into work and to support families and get the job that they need in the record of this country in creating jobs, new jobs in particular with 400,000 children to get out of poverty in the last ten years, that is progress. >> christopher. >> mr. speaker more than 1 million fellow citizens have recovered after testing positive for covid-19, on the second of november the british medical journal reported the all those people who have protection from the details which would ensure that they cannot be reinfected for at least six months. in the light of that will my friend follow the example of swe

place a system of support so that if you have to isolate and you are eligible for benefits and universal creditod that you have to isolate for. the government has now told us it is looking at ways to expand the scheme to cover the app but others want to support to go further. let's return to the restrictions in england — and government ministers are finalising plans to lift lockdown measures on december 2nd and return to a tiered system of restrictions. we can talk to our political correpsondent helen catt. a return to a tier system but stronger tears? the messages they will be tougher than they were going into the all england national lockdown. we have had this week from the director of public health england susan hopkins suggesting that the lowest tier was not effective so they would have to look at tightening restrictions further so at tightening restrictions further soi at tightening restrictions further so i think it is a fear that if you in one of those lower tiers in particular you are likely to see more restrictions coming out of lockdown than there were going into it. one exception is

had been prevented from falling into poverty by the chancellor's temporary £20—a—week boost to universal creditta ora has apologised for holding a 30th birthday party celebration at a restaurant in west london on saturday with a group of friends in breach of coronavirus restrictions. posting on instagram, the singer described it as an "inexcusable error ofjudgement". the metropolitan police confirmed that they were called to the casa cruz restaurant in notting hill to investigate a potential breach of covid regulations and officers were seen this morning at the venue of the party. with millions of people staying at home throughout the lockdowns, loneliness has been a growing issue in the uk. a new initiative, set up by the jo cox foundation, is urging people to contact those who might be living on their own or shielding. one of the celebrities who supports the campaign is actor michael sheen, who joins us now. good to see you. loneliness is nothing new, sadly, but this christmas is going to be like no other. well, it has been a year like no other, hasn't it? so certainly christmas won't be any

place a system of support so that if you have to isolate and you are eligible for benefits and universal creditiod that you have to isolate for. the government has now told us it is looking at ways to expand the scheme to cover the app, but others want the support to go further. coronavirus cases in the united states continue to soar. there are more than 12 million confirmed infections, up byi million in less than a week. california has introduced a state—wide overnight curfew to try to curb the surge there. officials in los angeles warn they are close to reaching the number of daily cases that means residents have to stay at home all the time. the us is setting new records each day for the number of new infections. 195,500 new cases were recorded on friday. the daily death toll linked to covid—i9 has passed 2,000 people for the first time since may. over the past week, there has been an average of more than 170,000 cases per day. that's an increase of 67%. and the covid tracking project reports more than 83,000 people are hospitalised across the country. here's our north america correspondent,

place a system of support so that if you have to isolate and you are eligible for benefits and universal creditayment for the period that you have to isolate for. the government has now told us it is looking at ways to expand the scheme to cover the app, but others want the support to go further. the headlines on bbc news... a tougher three—tiered system of local restrictions will come into force in england when the lockdown ends in ten days' time, but there'll be a relaxation over christmas. pubs and restaurants in england could be allowed to stay open longer with an easing of the 10pm curfew. the nhs in england is to get an extra £3 billion, but the chancellor warns of tough times ahead for the economy as the country deals with the consequences of the pandemic. good afternoon. let's start in the premier league with what has been an exciting opening game in the first of the day's matches — everton comfortably on top against fulham at craven cottage where they lead 3—i following an action packed first half, everton taking the lead after only 42 seconds from england striker dominic calvert—lewin

place a system of support so that if you have to isolate and you are eligible for benefits and universal crediteriod that you have to isolate for. the government has now told us it is looking at ways to expand the scheme to cover the app but others want to support to go further. let's return to the restrictions in england — and government ministers are finalising plans to lift lockdown measures on december 2nd and return to a tiered system of restrictions. similarto similar to what england had before but it sounds it will be beefed up. the indications are stronger restrictions. that certainly seems to be the direction of travel. these national lockdown restrictions in england expired in december the 2nd so england expired in december the 2nd so there is some debate about what will come after those in boris johnson has always said he wants to return to the regional system but earlier this week we had the direction of public health england suggest the lower tiers had not worked to try and stem the spread of transmission so would look like they would need to beef them up and make the restriction s

help reduce the pressure on families, by making permanent a £20 a week increase in the benefit universal crediti wonder if he'd like to add his name to that call today, because that is genuinely crucial support that families in wales no longer know that they can rely on. i know, first minister, that you want to distract from talking about your responsibilities as a government in order to highlight yourfailures — your failures when it comes to the health service, to the education system and your failures when it comes to the economy. plaid cymru's leader turned to fears for the future of tata steel in port talbot. it follows an announcement that tata is looking to sell part of its european arm, separating the uk and dutch businesses, news which has been described as "extremely worrying" for tata's workers — about 4,000 of whom are employed at port talbot. adam price tied his question in to comments reported in the sun newspaper, which said that borisjohnson had told mps that "devolution has been a disaster north of the border" and had been former prime minister tony blair's "biggest mista ke". h