Monday in parliament. Hello again, and welcome to monday in parliament. As the Prime Minister announces the end of englands lockdown. The National Restrictions in england will end on the 2nd of december and they will not be renewed. Theres a guarded welcome from labour. The Prime Minister proposes a return to the 3 tier system. Thats risky. Before borisjohnson is silenced by new technology. Its not our end, Prime Minister, it could well be yours, and would mr hancock like to take over with the answer . Englands National Lockdown will end next week. The Prime Minister told mps that the country would return to a tougher version of the regional tiers system, but gyms and nonessential shops would be allowed to reopen. Spectators will be allowed to return to some sporting events, and weddings and collective worship will resume. Which areas will be in which tiers is due to be announced on thursday. The rules may be relaxed over christmas. The announcement came amid more encouraging news about the development of a vaccine at oxford. Borisjohnson is still self isolating, so when he updated mps, it was by videolink. For the First Time Since this wretched virus took hold, we can see a route out of the pandemic. The breakthroughs in treatment, in testing vaccines mean that the scientific cavalry is now in sight, and we know in our hearts that next year, we will succeed. By the spring, these advances should reduce the need for the restrictions weve endured in 2020 and make the whole concept of a covid lockdown redundant. In recent weeks, families and businesses in england have, once again, steadfastly observed nationwide restrictions and theyve managed to slow the growth of new cases and ease the worst pressures on our nhs. I can therefore confirm the National Restrictions in england will end on the 2nd of december and they will not be renewed. From next wednesday, people will be able to leave their home for any purpose and meet others in outdoor public spaces subject to the rule of six. Collective worship, weddings and Outdoor Sports can resume and shops, personal care, gyms and the wider leisure sector can reopen. Mr speaker, i cant say that christmas will be normal this year, but in a period of adversity, time spent with loved ones is even more precious for people of all faiths. So, to allow families to come together while minimising the risk, were working with the devolved administrations on a special, time limited christmas. Embracing the whole of the United Kingdom and reflecting the tides of kinship across our islands. But this virus obviously is not going to grant a christmas truce. It doesnt know its christmas, mr speaker, and families will need to make a careful judgement about the risk of visiting elderly relatives. The vaccine is the light at the end of the tunnel. The question today is how do we get there and protect lives and livelihoods along the way . The Prime Minister proposes a return to the 3 tier system. Thats risky because the previous 3 tier system didnt work. Tier1 areas drifted to tier 2, almost all tier 2 areas ended up in tier 3 and those in tier 3 couldnt see a way out and we ended up in National Lockdown. That was the sad reality of the tiered system before, and nobody wants a repeat of that. Sir keir starmer had more questions about nhs test and trace. The latest figures actually show that every week about 120,000 close contacts. Thats the people who should be self isolating and not being traced by the system. The likelihood of getting the virus under control with 120,000 people who should be self isolating are moving around their communities is very low. The snp demanded more help for those such as freelancers who dont qualify for job support schemes. Prime minister, this chancellor Spending Review will take place in, sadly, one month from christmas day. I have one very specific question. Will the Prime Minister guarantee that a package of Financial Support will finally be put in place for the 3 Million People who have been excluded from any economic support . Will there be some pre christmas tier for the 3 million who have been excluded from help so far . Looks, this has been very, very difficult, mr speaker, and were doing whatever we can to help the self employed and the excluded i3 and a half billion, i think more now, to support the self employed, those particularly in the artistic cultural sectors, the 1. 5 billion pound investment in the arts and culture. Can i ask the Prime Minister to set out the restrictions that have such an impact on people and businesses . The impact hes expecting it to have on dealing with covid, but also the non covid Health Impact and the impact on peoples livelihoods so we know each measure is going to save more lives than it costs . Boris johnson offered a sympathetic answer to mark harper and the dozens of tory mps who signed a letter he wrote to the Prime Minister. But then something went wrong with the line to downing street. Do not adjust your set. The points i hope he agrees in that letter were answered in my statement about support for curfew, nonessential retail, gyms, personal. Audio cuts out. Press the button, Prime Minister its not our end, it could well be yours, and would mr hancock like to take over with the answer . Is one of you going to do or not . After a three minute break, the mps returned with the Health Secretary finally agreeing to stand in for the Prime Minister. We of course recognise the impacts. I would reiterate what ive said many times before, which is that the Health Impacts of not locking down and the spread of the coronavirus are going too broad on other conditions other than coronavirus are also bad, and the best way to protect the health of the nation is to keep the virus under control. Wales is especially vulnerable to covid i9 because of our older population and our higher level of decimation. Will the secretary of state ensure that wales receives a sufficient allocation of vaccines based on need and not population . Its actually vital that we vaccinate fairly across this country, across the whole of the uk, according to clinical need. Matt hancock. And as Computer Support tried to resume contact with the Prime Minister, the Health Secretary carried on answering questions from mps. Should we not be alarmed that the dependence to do the things which normally, people would expect in a democracy now rest in the hands of the minister and the state . And a conservative was also worried about the impact on peoples freedoms. My question is under any tier or indeed, any future lockdown, we would never return to the abolition of healthy Outdoor Sports or going to religious services. Theres never been a shred of evidence that they cause any problems. I very much hope we wont have another National Lockdown at all. Its one of the reasons why we toughened up tier 3, to ensure that if areas are in tier 3, we can get the virus coming down as opposed to flattening a high rate as we were seeing before. But a labour mp didnt think what was being proposed was tough enough. The latest ons data estimate is now over 600,000 people with the virus. Cases will soar again if the government keeps repeating the same old errors, including the failed tier system, driven by the pressure of its own right wing backbench mps, not Public Health needs. Todays measures risk a third wave. The green party mp worried about those she reckoned had missed out on Financial Support from the government. Will the government stop repeating theyve given 13 billion for the self employed when 3 million of them have been unfairly deemed to be ineligible . Its not good enough to say that its too difficult or wait till the economy is moving again. Please, no ifs, no buts, no excuses. When is it going to give those people some hope . Matt hancock didnt reply to that, and shortly afterwards the Deputy Speaker had an announcement. I believe we have the Prime Minister virtually, so first, we will go to alex davis jones. I think we had alex davisjones. Do we have. We can come back . Alex davisjones yes im grateful that both the Prime Minister and i are now back virtual. She went on to ask him about money that had been promised to help wales, but hadnt been delivered. One of her colleagues was more concerned about a different recent spending rumour. While the Prime Minister might hold that coronavirus take first christmas, key workers in prisons, local authorities and Emergency Services will be working hard to keep Vital Services running. Despite this, the chancellor is apparently set to freeze their pay. Will the Prime Minister order the chancellor to reverse this decision . The public understands the need to keep the pressure down on public spending at the moment. Weve had in pay rises previously, but the chancellor will be setting out the economic situation. Its not easy as a result of what this country have been going through. The last ruler who told us how we may or may not celebrate christmas with oliver cromwell. It didnt end well, did it . I love christmas. I love a big get together. I think the trouble is that the people of this country can see that there is a real risk that if we blow it at christmas with a big blow out christmas, we pay for it in the new year. The changes today to gyms, god and golf, can the Prime Minister confirm to me that the hospitality sector forced to close in tier 2 and three areas will continue to receive grant support in the future . Yes, indeed, madam Deputy Speaker. Ive told my friend that local restrictions support grants, £3000 for every 28 days of business is forced to close. Borisjohnson. Youre watching monday in parliament with me, david cornock. Dont forget that if you miss our daily round up of westminster life, you can catch up, broadband permitting, via the bbc iplayer. Theres been some heavy criticism of the windrush Compensation Scheme in the house of lords following newspaper revelations last week that a senior 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 secretarys mind is on other matters. But i ask ministers to sit out a date and home offices claimed, my lords, this proves the anger of the community will spill on our streets. If serious allegations of racism are being put out, it is something we need to take extremely seriously, and i will ask the noble lord to bring me with further detail, i will take that back. He also asked if the home office should indeed be the right department to deal with this. My lord, the home office is i think the right department to deal with this as affected peoples identity needs to be established first, which of course is the purview of the home office, before the claims are looked into. And hes right to raise the issue of deceased people, because a its tragic that someone is deceased before their claim is heard. B it says to us 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. A review by Wendy Williams, published in march, identified profound institutional failure at the home office. There is clearly a lack of leadership of the very highest level in the home office, a culture change was promised and it still has not and is not being delivered. Its actions, not words that matters and does the government agree or has even Wendy Williams got it all wrong . I totally agree with the noble lord that a culture change is what is badly needed. A culture change does not come in a quicktime scale, but over time i think in terms of 168 people, is that it . I think we need to move faster in terms of processing claims and that is something that i know my right honourable friend the home secretary is looking at. This is particularly personal to me. My mother was part of the Windrush Generation and gave her best life to the nhs working for more than 50 years. My lords, the most senior black Civil Servant working on the windrush Compensation Scheme resigned citing racism and stating there was complete legal lack of humanity dealing with applicants. Equally strong was Wendy Williams windrush review in which she highlighted people were not coming forward because of the burden of proof of their legal status was far too high. Given that the trust in the system is at an all time low. The fact that the most senior black Civil Servant made those claims is not something that i can stand here and be defensive about. I think we need to listen very, very carefully to what people are saying as opposed to dismissing it. And im not saying its being dismissed at all. Of course the scheme was designed with some of the claimants in mind. But i think its something for us as a home office to reflect on in the weeks and months going forward. Many of the Windrush Generation whove been treated so badly for so long actually are quite frightened about approaching the home office because they see it as an institution that has been responsible for many unfair deportations. The minister agreed, saying the home office was reflecting on how to improve the process. Later, the government was defeated in the lords by peers who fear that its internal market bill will weaken devolution after brexit. Opponents say the controversial bill would allow westminster to dictate rules and regulations on goods traded across the uk. The governments promised to write its commitment to consult scotland, wales and Northern Ireland into the law, but that wasnt enough for its critics, and ministers lost the key vote by a majority of 77. The government may try to overturn that when the bill returns to the commons. Now, senior Civil Servants have said that businesses need to do more if theyre to be ready for the end of the brexit transition period on the 31st of december. New rules and customs checks will come into force in january. The officials were appearing before the public accounts committee, which has been looking at how prepared the country is for the end of the year. We have produced 12 reports as a committee. The National Audit office has called over this. So why are we still facing some of the same issues and asking the same questions about preparedness this late on . In march, the watchdog the National Audit office said eight of the nine major government programmes were high risk or red. That score today stands at one of those nine programmes that is still red, which is trade readiness. So we think thats a measure of the degree of progress that we have made in relation to the systems, and infrastructure, customs intermediaries, and data sharing all these other important necessary aspects of being ready for the border at the end of the year. We are five weeks away from the end of the year. So what are your biggest worries . I think first of all i would pick out, as the nao did, just the sheer scale of the operation means that there are literally many moving parts. So many things have to change at one time that inevitably there is going to be some difficulties for some individual people as they adjust to the new regime. He was also concerned at the number of businesses that still needed to get ready for the end of the transition period. And if there is to be an agreement of an eta and indeed a matching agreement then that we hope to see from the joint committee, theres always a smaller amount of time to be able to act on that. I know in 2018, 228 Million Tonnes of freight went across the uk borders, so an awful lot of hauliers. They are going to pay a key role in this. But theyre going to be required to do an awful lot of paperwork. Do you really think that a majority of the actual drivers themselves, at least initially, are yet well enough informed . The government has been running an information campaign. In addition, we issued our haulier handbook last week, 18th november. And its actually online i believe today in polish and romanian, and there are other languages coming so that its all available in multiple languages. Weve got 44 of our 45 information and advice sites now up and running. These are places where hauliers can stop and get advice on paperwork and preparation they need to do. And very often, that advice will be available in various images as well. And plans were in place for lorries queuing to cross the channel. We expect to have sites available on the 1st of january capable of sort of queuing up to 9700 lorries if that is what is required. The reasonable worst Case Scenario assessed in the report suggests that 7000 lorried would be the capacity at the upper limits in such a case, so we have excess capacity. There is still some work to do to make sure those sites are fully ready, at ashford, and that work is still under way at pace. If we accept its not possible to get everything before the 31st of december, how many numbers can we afford to still have without there being significant disruption either to supplies of essential goods or significant damage to the economy . The feedback we get from businesses is that there are two current barriers to their starting or completing their readiness journey, and the first is obviously a large number of businesses tell us that in terms of the things they are currently grappling with, covid obviously comes higher in terms of their priorities than making or finalizing the preparations for the end of the transition period. She said many traders did not need to be ready for the 1st of january. They may not need to be ready for february or march or whenever it is that they move their goods. So i dont think its even realistic to think that 100 of every business who does any trade with the eu needs to be ready on the 1st ofjanuary. Its the businesses who are actually moving goods on or after the 1st ofjanuary who need to be ready. Emma churchill. Mps have called on the government to rethink its plans to push ahead with gcse and a level exams in england next summer. The Welsh Government has already cancelled exams in favour of grades based on classroom assessments. In the commons, a liberal democrat cited the case of an a level student called sophie, who she said was extremely anxious about the prospect of exams. So why wont the minister please listen to sophie and also follow the lead of the liberal democrat Education Minister in wales by providing clarity and certainty now by cancelling exams and moving to a robust teacher led assessment . As sophie said to me, we are not lazy, we need your help. Will the minister listen to her and help her . How can any form of traditional exams be done on a level playing field, particularly for poorer kids in the north . And is the minister going to be happy that the huge attainment gap that follows will be his personal legacy . We do know that all students due to sit exams next year have experienced disruption to their education due to the pandemic, and thats why we are working closely with the schools sector to ensure that we have clear contingency plans in place for students that are ill, have to self isolate and we are engaging widely on contingency plans and for other measures to ensure that exams are fair this year. Nick gibb. Before we go, a reminder of what can go wrong despite the wonders of new technology. A moment from the house of commons that will strike a chord with anyone whos held a Virtual Meeting in the last eight months. Nonessential retail, gyms, personal. Have you pressed the button, Prime Minister . Prime minister. Right, i think were just going to have to stop for a moment so we can have it checked. Were just checking the sound, Prime Minister, we lost your answer. Have you pressed the button by mistake . Muted. Laughter. Its not our end, Prime Minister. It could well be yours. I wonder mr hancock wants to take over with the answer . Is one of you who is going to do it or not . Youre looking at each other. Sorry. We are going to suspend for three minutes then. 0k. In order to allow the safe exit, im not going to suspend the house for three minutes. Some problem with the sound. The Prime Minister and some problem with the sound. That was monday in parlimaent. Thank you for watching and listening. I do hope you canjoin me at the same time tomorrow for tuesday in parliament. Until then, bye for now. Hello there. Monday was really quite a chilly day, particularly so across central and eastern england, where temperatures quite widely only got to around 7 8 celsius just six there in north yorkshire. But one of the things that brings us the biggest temperature rises this time of year are warm fronts. And weve had one of those across the country, south westerly winds have been following, and hour by hour weve seen those temperatures rise recently such that by the time we get to tuesday, 6am, those temperatures will be far higher than the highest temperatures we had all day yesterday, at around 10 11 celsius quite widely. So milder air is on the way, south westerly winds to thank for that. But well also have this weather front which will be one of these slow moving weather fronts its bringing rain at the moment in Northern Ireland and scotland, and it will continue to rain for these areas through much of the day on tuesday, as well. Now further southwards and eastward across england and wales, itll be a mild start to the day, with temperatures 10 12 celsius in places. Quite a brisk south westerly wind, some low cloud over the high grounds, some mist and fog patches higher up, a bit of drizzle around as well. But as we go through tuesday morning, i think the cloud may well break up at times across england. The best chance of that probably in the morning, really, across east anglia and south east england. Otherwise, probably keeping the cloud through most of the day for most areas. And the rain continues to come down for Northern Ireland and scotland. Whether you see sun or cloud, temperatures around 11 13 celsius a little bit cooler in the far northwest of the uk. That colder air is behind this cold front sinking southwards over the next few days. As it pulls away, we will get that colder air lingering around the uk for much of the rest of the week. So heres the chart for wednesday heres our cold front, bringing clouds, still a bit of rain moving southwards and eastwards into east anglia, southeast england, a few showers for scotland and Northern Ireland, it may be 1 2 sneaking down the irish sea, as well. You notice those temperatures cooling off highs more typically around 8 9 celsius for northern areas, still around 11 12 celsius in the far southeast. The pressure then rises, giving us clear skies through wednesday night. Therell be a frost with High Pressure around towards the end of the week. Lots of dry weather with mist and fog patches in the morning, a few patches of frost, but its a mostly dry picture, perhaps generally turning a bit more cloudy as we head into the weekend. Thats your weather. Welcome to bbc news. My names mike embley. Our main news green light for president elect joe biden as transition process is finally given the go ahead. Mr trump says his team will do what needs to be done in the best interest of the country but vows to keep up the fight. Joe bidens team issues a statement saying the transition will begin with meetings with government officials on a response to the pandemic and National Security issues. Donald trump says he has told his team to co operate with the transition to a joe biden presidency,