To impeach President Trump, for an unprecedented second time. This time its a single charge of inciting insurrection, for his role in last weeks attack on capitol hill. Democrats are also asking the trump cabinet to strip mr trump of his president ial powers, under the 25th amendment. President trumps Outgoing Administration has returned cuba to the official us blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism. With nine days left in office, the secretary of state, mike pompeo, accused the government in havana of supporting International Terror and subverting justice, citing cubas ties to venezuelas leader, nicolas maduro. The british Prime Minister, borisjohnson, says hes prepared to impose tougher lockdown restrictions in the uk if people ignore the current guidance. Officials warn that the uk is currently at the worst point of the coronavirus pandemic. Johnson says 2. 4 Million People across the uk have now been vaccinated against coronavirus. Now on bbc news, monday in parliament. Hello again, and welcome to monday in parliament. The Health Secretary warns were at the worst point of the pandemic, but could there be light at the end of the tunnel . As of today, madam deputy speaker, in england, 2. 33 million vaccinations have been given with 1. 96 million receiving their first dose. There is, though, a sobering update from the chancellor. While the vaccine provides hope, the economy is going to get worse before it gets better. And 3. 5 years after the grenfell fire, mps demand action. People living in buildings with unsafe cladding are being tortured physically due to a lack of sleep as they live in fear, financially as they cannot
sell their homes, and are forced to pay for waking watches. But first, the government has set out its plans to immunise tens of millions of people in england by the spring. Almost 2. 3 Million People across the uk have been given at least one jab so far. The Prime Minister was in bristol visiting one of seven new mass inoculation centres. Borisjohnson warned the uk is facing a perilous moment in the pandemic and must guard against complacency. Back at westminster, the speaker took the pms warning seriously. Can ijust say to members wherever possible, please try and wear a mask all the time apart from obviously when we are speaking. So, please bear that in mind. Order and most mps did as they were told. Later, the recently appointed minister for Covid Vaccine deployment updated them. There are many miles to go on this journey, madam deputy speaker, but armed with this plan, our direction of travel is clear. And we should be buoyed by the progress were already
making. As of today, madam deputy speaker, in england, 2. 33 million vaccinations have been given with 1. 96 million receiving their first dose, and 374,613 having already received both doses. We are on track to deliver our commitment of offering a first vaccine to everyone in the most vulnerable groups by the middle of next month. The plan itself is quite a conventional plan. Aside from the new big Vaccination Centres it uses traditional delivery mechanisms operating within traditional Opening Times and access. As an opposition, we do have some concerns with this. We believe exceptional circumstances call for an exceptional response 24 7 access, i know earlier today at the number 10 briefing that this was said to be something that people
wouldnt be interested in. I was very surprised to hear that. Id be interested to hear from the minister his basis for that. If you go to a 24 hour regime, much harder for you to actually just target the vaccine at those four cohorts because obviously when you have limited vaccine volume if its 24 hours open you dont want people standing around all waiting for this. Plus, many people are over 80. Residents of care homes, were going into care homes for them, and so the decision to go 8am 8pm is we want to make sure there is even spread and targetting very closely. Can i ask about the speed of the roll out . Many people want teachers to be jabbed as quickly as possible, but is it the case that all those in groups 1 4 will need their second jabs before we can make real inroads into other key groups . The more vaccine volumes that
will come and we have tens of millions that will come through beyond february and into march the faster we can begin to protect those nine categories in phase 1. But the moment weve done that, then its absolutely right we should begin to look at categories like teachers, police officers, those who may be exposed in their workplace to the risks of this virus. He will be well aware of the public concern about the decision to delay the second dose of each vaccine so as to ensure more people receive the first dose more quickly. With the current surge in covid cases, i totally understand the rationale for this approach. So, can he explain why there have been more than 300,000 additional second doses given over the last week despite the jcvi announcement on the 31st of december . And can he guarantee that sufficient quantities of the Pfizer Vaccine will be available by the end of february to ensure those given their first dose in early december will receive their booster on time . We can guarantee that those who have had their Pfizer Vaccine will get their booster within the prescribed up to 12 weeks. The question she asks about those whove had a second job already, the information went out to primary Care Networks and to hospital hubs that those who have an appointment up until the 4th of january should be able to have their appointment honoured. Beyond that, theyve been working very closely with the nhs england team centrally where we have been supporting them both with resources and actually phoning to postpone those appointments. Id like tojust dig in a bit deeper into the supply question. I had the privilege of visiting
a gp surgery in my constituency on friday where i was told by the doctor in charge they cant book the next set of appointments because they dont know when they get the next delivery of vaccine. Ive heard from other centres that theyre not allowed to move onto the next cohorts when they finish their under 80s because of making sure theres equity across the country, and the minister has said we cant have 24 7 vaccination because of supply. So is it the rate at which the product is being manufactured . Is it the rate at which its being packaged . Is it the rate at which its been batch tested, or is it the rate at which its being distributed around the country that is the supply issue . Always difficult at the outset but gets better by the day and the weeks ahead as well. The chancellor has warned that the economy will get worse before it gets better. Rishi sunak made a statement to mp5, the first time theyve had a chance to question him since england went into lockdown. He offered a sobering summary of the economic situation. Even with the significant
economic support weve provided, over 800,000 people have lost theirjob since february. And while the new National Restrictions are necessary to control the spread of the virus, they will have a further significant economic impact. We should expect the economy to get worse before it gets better. The chancellor defended the governments response worth more than £280 billion. Almost 10 million workers have been furloughed. And businesses in england legally forced to close could get one off grants of £9000. He said the future offered signs of hope. Mr speaker, while the vaccine provides hope, the economy is going to get worse before it gets better. Many people are losing theirjobs. Businesses are struggling. Our public finances have been badly damaged and will need repair. The road ahead will be tough. Now, it is time for responsible management of oui economy, taking the difficult but right to long term decisions for our country. But mr speaker, i am confident that with this comprehensive support the government is providing and above all the determination, enterprise, and resilience of the british people, we will get through this. But his labour shadow said the chancellor had nothing new to say. I was relieved to hear this morning that the chancellor had undertaken to address the house today, but i deeply regret that having last year blocked measures that would have helped to protect the nhs and secure our economy, today the chancellor appears out of ideas, urging us to look towards the sunny uplands but providing nothing new. The purpose of an update,
mr speaker, is to provide us with new information, not to repeat what we already know. The chancellor needs to acknowledge the reality of the crisis we face. A crisis made worse by his governments irresponsibility with our economy having suffered the worst recession of any major economy, and he needs to act accordingly. Mr speaker, i have said for months now that we will not be out of this crisis quickly and im sad to have been proven right. And on top of this, brexit is causing chaos for scottish exporters trying to get their goods across the border. Its no wonder, mr speaker, that scotland is looking on at this shambolic westminster government and deciding in poll after poll independence offers a brighter prospect for our future than more of the same old tory austerity. Several conservative mps demanded more help one reported back from meeting pub owners in his constituency. Its probably one of the most sobering Virtual Meetings that
ive taken part in since this pandemic started. It was very sad to hear about the extreme anxiety they have. Theyve poured their whole life into those businesses that they are working, and there is still concern even now. So, will my right honourable friend confirm that he will be reflecting on what further support might be provided ahead of the budget . And i talk specifically about the potential extension of the Business Rates holiday throughout 2021 and also the support on vat. The chancellor was sympathetic. And i will bear in mind his suggestions for how we can look at providing for the support. Its a vital industry for our local industries, nationally employs over 2 Million People, and he is right that they have borne the brunt of these restrictions and deserve our support as we emerge on the other side. This was also rishi sunaks first commons appearance since the uk left the eus rulebook. Northern ireland has its own special post brexit arrangements, a protocol the dup already wants to see set aside under whats known in the jargon as article 16. This protocol, mr chancellor, is an unmitigated disaster. Ppe equipment can no longer get into northern ireland. Foodstuffs cant get into northern ireland, m s have produced a list of 400 goods that they wont bring into northern ireland. We now must invoke article 16, and i would encourage the chancellor do that, and im sure the scot nats are delighted they dont have a protocol now. Rishi sunak said ministers were ready to talk through any problems for northern ireland. He was told there are also Brexit Issues for scottish seafood. One at local fish trader told me this morning that a single consignment now has to go with no fewer than 17 different attachments and another told me on friday that he had lost £50,000 on a single consignment that he had been unable to export. What is the chancellor going to do to offer help to fish exporters to get them through this very difficult time, difficult because of defras own rules and procedures . Mr speaker, what this deal provides is to ensure that all those businesses that he mentioned have tariff free access to european markets. Otherwise, there would have been significant tariffs on those exports. He is right, there are changes to our trading relationship. That has always been the case and both the Prime Minister and the government have been clear about that. The chancellor, rishi sunak. Youre watching monday in parliament with me, david cornock. Dont forget if you miss our daily round up of westminster life, and theres really no excuse now the pubs are shut, you can catch up via the bbc iplayer. The head of the nhs in england has warned that the uk is facing both a sprint and a marathon in the battle against covid 19. He was giving evidence alongside other Senior Health officials to the commons public accounts committee. The hearing began with a warning that the virus was currently out of control. In merseyside, for example,
in just the last week, there has been a further 50 increase in the number of covid hospitalisations. So this is a very serious moment for the country and for the National Health service. And its worth remembering that this affects all ages. A quarter of the covid admissions to hospital right now are for people aged under 55. So this is something that we all have to take extremely seriously. He said the number of vaccinations had tripled in the last week. This is a sprint to mid february, and then it will be a sprint from mid february through to the end of april to extend the vaccination to the rest of the higher risk groups identified by the joint committee on vaccination information. And then it will be a marathon from april through the summer into the autumn, as the secretary of state for health and social care has said, where were offering everybody in the country whos over the age of 18, if the vaccines
are authorised, thatjab. What do you need from the rest of the system to make sure that the nhs is able to meet these hugely stretching targets given the virus, as you say, is rampant now, its running through, that we probably wont be rid of it by the end of the year . And can you realistically guarantee with what you need in place that you will be able to roll this out to all over 18s by of the end of 2021 . Obviously it depends on continuing vaccine supply throughout the course of the calendar year, but as the nao report lays out, vaccine staff have done a fantasticjob of sourcing millions of doses, tens of millions of doses, hundreds of millions of doses over the course of this calendar year. There may be some uncertainty as to exactly which week or which month some of them arrive, but in aggregate, we ought to be well served for the amount of Vaccines Available in this country. A lot of people have been getting letters sending them to mass Vaccination Centres
that are not close to where they live, and they want to know if they can go locally. And the advice that is being given locally is to wait until your gp contacts you. Could you confirm that that is correct . The Vaccination Centres, the larger scale Vaccination Centres, are simply an additional option that some people may choose to avail themselves of. But they will also be getting an invitation from their local gp services for a more convenient vaccination if they would prefer that. Questioning then turned to the prospect of an annual coronavirus vaccination programme. What is the timing if we do need to look forward to annual vaccinations for next year . What are we going to be looking at . And when do those decisions actually need to be made . He was told the uk had enough vaccines for this year with more on order. If you also come back to that 367 million doses,
lets assume all of those reached approval, wed have more than enough to re vaccinate everybody next year if we wanted to. So weve got time in hand. Where we will need to get to is the same kind of global surveillance that is done on flu, where as you know people identify flu strains in advance and on a world basis change production. If that is the way this virus goes through, and i am stressing here the unknowns in this because obviously it still remains a very new virus. We have a lot to learn about it. Also before the committee was the former head of the vaccine task force, who was criticised over spending on Public Relations and her links to downing street. I think the key lessons actually are the political ones. I wouldnt change anything that we did in terms of the work we did on securing the vaccines, the work weve done on supporting the Rapid Development of those vaccines. The areas which i think weve
fallen down on have been the political savvy. And the fact that there have been challenges which seem to be politically motivated suggesting that exactly the line of questioning that youre going after, which is have you got the job because of who youre related to or who you know rather than whether or not youre competent. And ijust dont think we handled that particularly well. Kate bingham. Ministers have been told that People Living in homes with unsafe cladding face a form of torture. At question time, conservative and labour mps called on the government to do more to tackle a safety problem that became apparent after the Grenfell Tower fire, in which 72 people died. The housing minister was also challenged over reports that building owners who do get help from a special fund will be banned from talking to the media without government approval. Sleep deprivation is recognised as a form of torture. People living in buildings with unsafe cladding are being tortured physically due to a lack of sleep as they live in fear, financially as they cannot sell their homes and are forced to pay for waking watches, and mentally as they
live in limbo. Can i ask my honourable friend when he expects this torture to end . We all appreciate the terrible challenges and suffering that many people around our country face with this issue. And thats why we want the residents of blocks which are enduring waking watch to get the benefits of our changes as soon as possible. We expect the £30 million fund to be open this month, with the aim to start providing funding for the installation of alarms as quickly as possible. We all agree, i think, mr speaker, that the best way of making buildings safe is to speed up remediation, and that is what our policies intend. Another conservative was unhappy to read reports the government might offer leaseholders loans to cover work beyond the initial £1. 6 billion fund for england. The government have always been right to say that leaseholders should not bear the costs
of a scandal for which they bore no responsibility. He said that wouldnt be consistent with the governments word. Weve always been clear that its unacceptable for leaseholders to have to worry about fixing the costs of historic safety defects in their buildings, defects that they did not cause. And i fully understand the anxiety that they must all feel, particularly given the compounding challenges of the pandemic. Thats why we are determined to removing the barriers to fixing those historic defects and identifying Clear Financial Solutions to help protect those leaseholders whilst also of course protecting the taxpayer. Even if a loan scheme were introduced to cover the costs of these defects, even if it was a very low interest scheme, that still would be a capital charge on property, a capital charge which would be a considerable financial
burden to leaseholders. It would put many of them into negative equity, and it would mean their properties were unsaleable. So, will he accept that a loan scheme which puts an Additional Debt on leaseholders is not a fair way out of this problem . And instead he should look to the industry and to government to cover the costs of putting these defects right . We have put available to those buildings and those owners who are not able to remedy those defects quickly and effectively £1. 6 billion in order to achieve those defects. Add insult to injury, ministers are trying to gag recipients of the Building Safety Fund from speaking to the media. Thatsjust not going to happen. Have ministers learned nothing about transparency from the Grenfell Inquiry . And isnt it about time that ministers step in and make sure the Developer Community shoulder their responsibility for this mess . We will work at pace to find solutions that resolve the question of building defects such that we do not see leaseholders, hard pressed leaseholders, enduring difficult, unforeseen and unfair taxes. And if those leaseholders wish to step forward and make comments themselves, who am ito say that they should not . We live in a free country. Let them speak. The housing minister, christopher pincher, offering leaseholders a chance to have their say, although his Department Said at the weekend that building owners applying for a share of the fund would need its permission before talking to the media. Now, amid the worsening covid crisis and a spell of cold weather, concerns are growing about the welfare of homeless people. Last week, the government urged local authorities in england to redouble their efforts to find shelterfor them. But some peers said that wasnt enough compared to the governments everyone in campaign at the start of the pandemic last march. On the 8th of january, the government set out further support for people who sleep rough as part of our ongoing world leading work to protect the rough sleepers. In the light of the new strain, we are asking all local authorities to redouble their efforts to accommodate rough sleepers backed by £10 million. We are also asking areas to use this opportunity to make sure that all rough sleepers are registered with a gp and are factored into local area vaccination plans in line with the jvci prioritisation for vaccinations. What guarantee can the minister give that this time, with increased transmissibility and local authorities going broke, that no one will be refused a safe room and a roof . Does he agree that it is no longer everyone in if rough
sleepers are being refused emergency help in this lockdown . Everyone in was a tremendous programme, and that is why it continues to be in place. And i point out to the fact that 33,000 people have been helped and supported to the end of november, and we continue with this programme in place and build on the success that saved many lives in the course of this pandemic. But the founder of the big Issue Magazine said the campaign to tackle homelessness didnt feel the same. There is this sense of the fact that we did it last time, but were not doing it again this time. And i would say that the government really does need to be selling this and pushing it forward so that we can understand that it is working and when it is not working. We have people sleeping rough
on our streets last week, last night and we will have again tonight. If you want to go to Waterloo Station, theres a whole group of tents at Waterloo Station of people sleeping there in the bridge between the station and waterloo road. And the Prime Minister and members of government tell us this pandemic is serious, and it is deadly serious. And lives will be lost. Theres nojustification for not today getting every single homeless person off the street that have particular vulnerabilities. We must do this and not do what we did last time. We have a moral mission to end rough sleeping. That is not an easy task, as the noble lord kennedy knows, but we will do our utmost. And the first thing is we prioritise the cash, more escalating accounts of money to do precisely that, but we will need the support of local government and you pointed out waterloo, and we know thats in the noble lords patch, if you like, also and when it is important then of the borough to show the leadership required to deal with this issue. Lord greenhalgh. Finally, the speaker of the commons, sir lindsay hoyle, made a short statement to mps about the attacks on the us capitol in washington, dc last week. Like many honourable members, i was shocked and dismayed this week at the events which took place. I wrote a personal letter to nancy pelosi, the speaker of the house of representatives, to offer my solidarity, not least for the trashing and the occupation of her office. Since i wrote the letter, we have learnt of the very sad death of officer brian d sicknick. Elected representatives in the house and the senate and the staff who support them showed great courage in ensuring that the democratic process was delayed and not stalled. Im sure i speakfor all honourable members in passing on our best wishes to them all and our condolences to the family and colleagues of officer sicknick. Sir lindsay hoyle. That was monday in parliament. Thank you for watching. I do hope you canjoin me at the same time tomorrow for tuesday in parliament. Until then, from me,
david cornock, bye for now. Hello there. Weve got a battle of the air masses taking place across the uk during this week. On monday, it was pretty mild, breezy for most, but today, it is brighter and sunny but colder. For many of us, that is away from the far south west which will remain quite wet and mild. That plume of cold air has been moving southwards overnight into tuesday it will be across most of the country away from the south west corner and where this weather front here will continue to bring outbreaks of rain. It is a cold, bright, icy start across much of scotland, Northern England through the morning. We will see wintry showers affecting North Eastern scotland, perhaps some north sea coasts being blown in on a cold wind. Wales, South West England stays rather dry, cloudy outbreaks of rain but mild here as you can see temperatures in double figures, much of northern ireland, scotland, for most of england and wales to the north east,
it will be bright but much chillier as temperatures in the low single digits. As we head through tuesday night, a cold one across central and eastern areas, perhaps frost around, rain out west will continue to slowly work its way eastwards. It could be heavy in places, bumps in the cold air and likely to see some sleet and snow on its leading edge, but quite a contrast in temperatures to start wednesday from east to west. A bit of a complicated weather story going on across the middle part of the week, a real battle of the air masses, the wedge of milder air with outbreaks of rain will be slowly pushing east and bumping into the cold air to the east of the uk. A bit of a headache to where the sleet and snow will be falling. But it could be very wet across central and Western Areas with localised flooding in places as air, sleet and snow and particularly across the high ground of Central Eastern scotland and Eastern England as well and the far north staying dry again in a real temperature contrast from west to east. Through wednesday evening and overnight, we could see some disruption from the snow across central, eastern and northern scotland and Eastern England, but further west, itll be mainly heavy rain. We have to stay tuned to the forecast, still some uncertainty with it. As we move out of thursday and into friday, that weather front fizzles away as the pressure builds in, but we see a return to the blue colours, it will be turning colder. So that rain slowly fizzles out on thursday and also some wintriness in eastern areas, mild in the south and drier and brighter and cooler on friday. Welcome to bbc news, im mike embley. Our top stories democrats in the us Congress Move forward with impeachment plans against President Trump the message is clear he must be held accountable. Securing the capital, and stabilizing a nation the fbi warns that armed protests are planned for washington and state capitals around the us. With nine days left in office, President Trumps administration returns cuba to the official us blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism. And struggles with a stammer how the president elect overcame his and the challenges this poses for millions of sufferers
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