there's been some heavy criticism of the windrush compensation scheme in the house of lords followingior black civil servant resigned from the unit which is processing the pay—outs. alexandra ankrah told the guardian the scheme was racist and unfit for purpose. the windrush scandal emerged after some people who arrived in the uk between 1948—1971 from caribbean countries were wrongly told they had no right to live or work here. some were wrongly deported. problems with the compensation scheme were raised by a liberal democrat peer. there are serious allegations of racism and racial discrimination against those who are dealing with outstanding windrush compensation claims. the injustice has lasted for over 70 years. the evidence from wendy williams has been accepted. we did with covid avoid millions of pounds without proper scrutiny. the home office cannot be the proper body to sort out these grievances. many people have died before making their claims while the home secretary's mind is on other matters. but i ask ministers to sit out a date and home offices claimed, my lords, this pro

complaints of racism and discrimination in the department's schemes which were set up to address the windrushith the news that borisjohnson has agreed a four—year £16.5 billion increase in defence spending, despite the financial pressures of the pandemic. and the daily express says it's a double dose of good news, with two coronavirus vaccines producing promising results. the times has a similar lead, reporting the first coronavirus vaccine could be ready for use within weeks after pfizer said its version was more effective than it initially thought. the paper also has the story that borisjohnson has made the largest investment in the military since the cold war. so let's begin. as always, lovely to have you both with us. we have been enjoying give bit of good news when it comes to these vaccines. but if we look at these vaccines. but if we look at the financial times, rachel, when it comes to rishi sunak, the chancellor, he is going to be giving his spending review next week and the ft is saying that rishi sunak faces the worst hit public finances since the second world war. some of the figu

there's been some heavy criticism of the windrush compensation scheme in the house of lords. from the caribbean between 1948 and 1971 but were wrongly told they had no right to live or work here. a senior black civil servant resigned from the unit which is processing the payouts. alexandra ankrah told the guardian the scheme was racist and unfit for purpose. many people have died awaiting their claims. while the home secretary's mind is on other matters, may i ask the minister to set out a date when all the outstanding claims are resolved? failing this, my lords, this experience has proved that the anger of the community will spill on our streets. he's absolutely right to raise the issue of deceased people because, a, it's tragic that someone is deceased before theirclaim is heard. b, it says to us that we need to be quicker at responding but, c, i would say to the noble lord where someone is deceased, then that claim can be dealt with in the appropriate manner in terms of their next of kin. mps have called on the government to re—think its plans to push ahead with gcse and a

complaints of racism and discrimination in the department's schemes which were set up to address the windrushper leads with the news that borisjohnson has agreed a four—year £16.5 billion increase in defence spending, despite the financial pressures of the pandemic. the daily express says it's a double dose of good news, with two coronavirus vaccines producing promising results. the times reports the first coronavirus vaccine could be ready for use within weeks after pfizer said its version was more effective than it initially thought. the paper also has the story that borisjohnson has made the largest investment in the military since the cold war. and on the topic of money, the financial times writes that the chancellor, rishi sunak, is facing the worst hit to public finances since world war ii. so those are the papers. we are going to begin, and we are going to begin with finances. he will come u nto begin with finances. he will come unto christmas and coronavirus in the moment, but we are going to start with the daily telegraph and this larger spent in defence spending since the cold war,

this is two and half years after the windrush task force was set up.hat happened to the windrush generation was a disgrace and a scandal and we are doing our best collectively to make amends. i can tell her i have met members of that generation and this government is taking steps to accelerate the payment and make sure that those who are in line with payments are given every opportunity and all the information they need to get the compensation they deserve. can associate myself with the remarks of the prime minister in respect for our service men and women past and present in protecting our peace? with regard to our battle against covid—19, senior church leaders have this past week issued a call for prayer across our nation. the prime minister i know is it very well aware of the persecution suffered by cou ntless aware of the persecution suffered by countless people of faith across the world for one thing to pray and ma nifest world for one thing to pray and manifest their faith. —— wanting to pray. will hejoin me in supporting our church leader's call

the windrush generation came from the caribbean to the uk from 1948 to 1971. a boom in global demand has cost the taxpayer around £10 billion. that's the findings of a report by the public spending watchdog, the national audit office. it says there was a particular shortage of gloves and aprons, and two orders for 75 million facemasks could not be used as they did not current pass safety standards. the government said the nao's report recognised that nhs providers had been able to get what they needed in time. well, robert white is the author of the report and director of health at the national audit office. good to have you with us to talk about your report today. i just wonder, ultimately, does this report show, in your opinion, that the government in reasonable circumstances should have actually had that supply is in place? that's a good question and a slightly difficult one to answer, because the national stockpile that was in place was designed for an influenza pandemic and do not occur coronavirus pandemic. —— and not a coronavirus pandemic. —— and not a

the windrush generation came from the caribbean to the uk from 1948 to 1971.my first born child that i was losing my second. she describes the tears she and harry both shed and goes on, "losing a child means carrying an almost unbearable grief. experienced by many, but talked about by few". it is worth pointing out that the miscarriage itself happened injuly at a time where, you know, they were not out of the headlines. you know, royal biographies being written about them. they could not escape the spotlight. and now we know, actually, the pain, as meghan says, the unbearable grief that, as a couple, they were going through. meghan is not the first member of the royal family to have a miscarriage. but she is the first to write about it. and she places it in the context of a year when so many have faced loss. it has been a year, she says, which has brought so many of us to our breaking points, whether through bereavement or the sharp divisions within societies. and she recommends a simple step, inspired, she says, by the interview she did in southern africa a y

speaker, set over the past 20 years, westminster has posed a extreme brexit, an illegal war on iraq, a windrushderstand why the people in scotland think it is him and his parliament that are the real disaster? i respectfully refer my honourable gentleman to the answer i gave to the leader of the opposition. i do think that his policies of wanting to break up the union area policies of wanting to break up the union are a disaster, and i wish he and his party would focus on the real priorities of the people of scotla nd real priorities of the people of scotland — education, health, tackling crime, and housing. the issues that matter to all our people. that is what a devolved government should do. i was very proud to run a devolved administration, that is what we focused on. we did not go on about constitutional change and the break—up of the uk. constitutional change and the break-up of the uk. i am not sure if the prime minister was listening, because ijust started some of the achievements of the scottish government delivering on behalf of the people of scotland. no apology and no regrets from t

mps have launched a new inquiry into the windrush compensation scheme, because of concerns that applicantsg carried out by the home affairs select committee. its chair, the labour mp yvette cooper, says mps are deeply concerned about problems reported since the scheme was established more than a year ago, including issues with pay—outs, and with complex paperwork. just trying to bring you a couple of details about the brexit trade talks. we are hearing via twitter, michel barnier who has treated, there is the news... one of the negotiations has tested positive for covid—19. therefore, negotiations are suspended for now. that has just come through, as much as we know. as soon as come through, as much as we know. as soon as we come through, as much as we know. as soon as we get come through, as much as we know. as soon as we get more come through, as much as we know. as soon as we get more details, we will bring those to you. life in lockdown has led to isolation for many people — and all this week bbc news has been looking at its impact on people of all ages. our correspondent elaine dunkle

unlawfully ignored warnings that changes to immigration rules would create serious injustices for the windrush a passenger describing how being in the back of the vehicle was like "her own bubble". but the advertising standards authority said that was "misleading". the licensed taxi drivers association says it's another blow for drivers, and insists black cabs are one of the safer ways to travel. let's take a look at the travel situation now. this is how the m25 looks — slow clockwise from junction 5 for the m26 to clackett lane services. there's a broken down vehicle adding to the usual delays. and there's a burst water main in stamford hill — amhurst park is closed eastbound from seven sisters road. now the weather, with kate kinsella. good morning. well, it's another mild start, temperatures well above zero. but with this mild air comes the cloud. it is going to stay largely grey throughout today. that cloud staying with us. it's a cold front that's brought the cloud overnight and into this morning. with it, we'll see some light patchy rain and some drizzle. you mightjust get one or two hea