Run offs for the us senate. If the democrats can beat the republicans in both seats, theyll take effective control of the senate. Prosecutors in the american state of wisconsin say a policeman investigated over the shooting of the black manjacob blake will face no charges. Mr blake was shot in the back several times and left paralysed. Official figures in the uk say that one in 50 people in england were infected with coronavirus last week. It comes as england and scotland have begun new lockdowns, driven by rising infection rates. Saudi arabia and several of its allies in the gulf have agreed to normalise diplomatic relations with qatar. They were suspended after qatar was accused of backing militant groups something it denied. Hello and welcome to our look ahead to what the papers will be bringing us tomorrow. With me are pippa crerar, the daily mirrors Political Editor and anand menon, director of the thinktank uk in a changing europe. Tomorrows front pages starting with the telegraphs front page which focuses on vaccines saying that thousands of pharmacists have offered to help give the jabs, but have been met with silence by the government. Meanwhile, the i reports the government is planning to increase the rate of vaccination by opening nhs vaccine hubs in sports stadiums and exhibition centres. The guardian says further restrictions could last for months as data shared at the latest government briefing showed more than 1 Million People are currently infected with the virus in england. The metro leads with the latest uk government statistics for coronavirus infections, which show as many as one in 30
people in london have confirmed infections. The mail also reports on that story, adding that englands chief medical officer said even if everyone followed the rules in the current lockdown, he couldnt rule out future restrictions to fight the virus next winter. The Financial Times looks at the chancellors plans for a new £4. 6 billion financial package to help companies through the latest lockdown. So, lets begin. We are going to start funnily enough with the daily mirror. This one of those excretion moments where i quote the story to the person who wrote the story. Pippa i am afraidi person who wrote the story. Pippa i am afraid i will quote your story, one in 50 infected, you have written the story, take us through it. Excruciating just written the story, take us through it. Excruciating just bringing the news. We have splashed on the figures today from the National Audit office, those shocking figures
that suggest last week one in 50 people were infected with coronavirus and scientists have warned that number is likely to go up. If you look at the figures today already, we are looking at about 60,000 new cases today and 830 deaths. And if you extrapolate from what the Scientists Say that it normally takes a couple of weeks for people to end up in hospital and another couple weeks before those people unfortunately died, there is a rag on these case numbers so u nfortu nately a rag on these case numbers so unfortunately it looks like the numbers are only going to go up. As the politicians and scientist have warned us for a very hard month ahead, and the premise of making the decision to plunge the country into the Third National lockdown, a lot of people feel that they could have seen this coming. There were warnings from various scientific advisers, sage, from imperial
couege advisers, sage, from Imperial College which does the modelling before christmas that cases were going to go up and further measures would be needed and there is a feeling really that by leaving it up to the new year, borisjohnson may have left to do it again and as a result u nfortu nately well have left to do it again and as a result unfortunately well see more cases, hospitalisations and deaths. In this press review i said be repeat to people what they have already set. 50 i have repeated your story. Already set. So i have repeated your story. And michael and i will repeat what you said earlier. You said one in 50 sounds terrible but 2 suddenly seems easier to manage. But nonetheless, the mayor has gone with one in 50 almost as if it is an Agatha Christie holding up a newspaper going one in 50 looking around going, who is the one who has got a . I suppose none of us arein situation with a 50 people. Anand am repeating. Of course it could be one and 30, that is even more striking. One of this is Gold Standard data from the ons because
they use random sampling methods, it has turned into pretty reliable data they are using and two isjust the horrible nature of the direction of power as pippa hasjust said. It is very ha rd power as pippa hasjust said. It is very hard and we will talk about the vaccine later but in terms of the figures of those infected and dying, its hard to find a Silver Lining in the Data Tracking the progress of the Data Tracking the progress of the virus because its spread seems to be speeding up. We are breaking records like we do not want to be breaking make the number of cases per day. The times has a hunting picture on the front page. At the empty, almost empty millennium bridge, one passer by, or actually two people know that i look at it very closely. The headline is almost one of those old westerns. The cavalry is coming. That is the kind of headline that pippa there is at least some good news out there. The vaccine is of course a Silver Lining to all of
this and we hope that it is the exit strategy from the current lockdown and the government hopes as well, if we can vaccinate the 14 million must fumble people by mid february, then we can start to think about lifting restrictions. Many people think that is too ambitious in terms of the. At one point when we consider to lift those measures but let us see. We all wanted done as fast as possible but what the times is suggesting is that millions of coronavirus jabs which have been kept back to give second doses and if you remember a few days ago there was a change in the government vaccination strategy which initially was to give the most vulnerable thereto jabs because both the vaccines we had, there are two inoculations needed three weeks apartand inoculations needed three weeks apart and then an individual would be fully vaccinated against covid
was at the Strategy Change and then became that the people would be given theirfirst dose became that the people would be given their first dose and the second one within 12 weeks of the first dose meaning more people could receive that first dose and more people could receive a slightly lower level but nevertheless a substantial level of protection from covid. This second doses now the times suggests, millions of them are going to be spread out across the country. It is a massive which is sickle feet, they need to find people to give the vaccinations in places such as stadiums and concert halls which will be opened up to deliver. There is some discussion as to whether they will be able to undertake these feats in the timescales. What can they anand . think only time will tell. I think both pippa and i both share scepticism about how this can all work, but this time it matters for
the government to get this right. This is good news of 2 million doses of the pfizer japanese this is good news of 2 million doses of the pfizerjapanese did not think you could have but this change in strategy means you can give an extra 2 million extra doses and that will help the government meeting what is a massively ambitious target. Of the pfizer vaccine. The Prime Minister wants to get half a Million People vaccinated by february and the numberwe people vaccinated by february and the number we have done so far is 1. 2 million so that we had to wrap it up but it is good news that we have 70 Vaccination Centres opening. We have to hope that the logistics episode and at the vaccine gets into the right place at the right times. seven the right place at the right times. Seven Vaccination Centres that an thatis seven Vaccination Centres that an that is what the david tow graph is looking into on its front page. Pharmacies offered to give jabs snubbed by ministers. What do you make of that, pippa . And as anand said earlier,
there might be more to this story because on initial reading, it is such a no brainer that the pharmacy organisations are suggesting that they book 11,000 pharmacies across they book 11,000 pharmacies across the uk which have at least one train pharmacist, not just the uk which have at least one train pharmacist, notjust places boots or lloyds but also smaller pharmacies as well, and if one of those are vaccinated once a day which sounds manageable, they could deliver more than1. 3 manageable, they could deliver more than 1. 3 million vaccinations a week which could send the government well on its way to its 2 million a week target eve n on its way to its 2 million a week target even before the max fascination centres. So why has a government not accept the offer . There has to be some reason that i dont know. But it does have a sort of got net it does suggest that the government might be taking similar approaches as it did with testing, the telegraph said, were at the beginning they decided not to use the private testing labs and
eventually when they did they were able to ramp up the numbers quite dramatically. I think it will be some response from the government as to why they are doing this because on the surface it seems like such an obvious way of meeting the target. Anand as pippa said, it is an eerie echo of what the papers are saying it back in march and april about offers to carry out covert testing again through, do you see that eco . Definitely. Back in march there were private webs that were saying we have the equipment necessary to have the government and the government declined to help and we ended up with not doing the mass testing that we set out to do. And here we have over 11,000 pharmacies that have at least one train pharmacist each who is capable of providing the jab to people. As i said west simon moore will come out about this because as pippa just said, it would seem on the service to be a no brainer where you have people trained to give out
the vaccine because they do the flu vaccines every year anyway. It is curious we are vaccines every year anyway. It is cuiious we are not vaccines every year anyway. It is curious we are not taking them up on this but there may be more to the story than what is being set the daily mail devices front page into two. It starts off with how you could with your spirits. It appears we watching tv and reading a few books. But then it goes onto the bad news. And pepper thatis goes onto the bad news. And pepper that is because professor chris wood he was saying at his briefing some assertions might have to be imposed next winter. Pippa that is because chris whitty. He mousset not another lockdown but this battle could be longer. This is in the context that the premise was to lift restrictions and said to me before christmas he wants to have wife back to normal by easter which is another. Life back to normal. He said that emerging from restrictions is subject to a lot of
caveats and if, the big one being vaccine brought us but then michael gove suggested that lockdown restrictions could continue into march and the Prime Minister was unable to give a clear answer to guarantee schools would definitely be back before the summer holidays. Chris whitty on top of all of this said we might have some restrictions next winter and thats because viruses thrive in winter. I do think as you rightly say we are talking about lockdown, i think we are hoping maybe more used to wearing facemasks and even though it feels such an odd thing to go on the tube, train, and bus and have a facemask on and take social distancing a bit more seriously. I am a very huggy person, i hug my friends, come up maybe next chris was i wont and will be backing away from people. Those are the things they are talking about rather than full undramatic lockdown because by then the vaccine will be rolled out. Given the amount of money i spent a
facemask, i might wear them for the next two years even if i have to wear them around the house we are going to look at the Financial Times now talking about money. Britain faces long haul crisis as rishi sunak announces 4. 6 billion support, anand these are extremely extract figures, how do we understand them . Most easily, grants of 9000 pence individual businesses and most affected sectors which are retail, leisure, and hospitality. His description of, and said they do not think it is enough to prevent many of those businesses closing down because of the hit they have taken. You thing aboutjims have had to close their doors and could not charge membership fees, businesses feel there is not enough being done now and this is a holding measure from the chancellor because in early march there is a budget where we expect them to announce even more measures the one think we
also need to hear at some point is how and when the government intends to start paying for all of this. But i think this next wave of the virus has put back any real consideration for that at the moment. Lets look at the times now, back to the times because on the right hand side, there is an article about exams. Former teachers should check people grades. Pippa from the mirror, we remember this terrible times in august where people with a level results werent sure what was going on and i spoke to someone under earlier programmes and who suggested that teacher evaluations should be the main thing. Is there a way of getting this right that respects 17 and 18 year olds taking their a levels . Respects 17 and 18 year olds taking their alevels . It was very distressing last year and very complicated and chaotic at universities who had to work out how we re universities who had to work out how were going to. What sort of offers they would offer to a couple stu d e nts they would offer to a couple students and the government is desperate to avoid a repeat of that. 28 desperate to avoid a repeat of that. 28 level students. You would like to think that Gavin Williamson when he stands up in front of mps tomorrow, he will give them clear a nswe rs tomorrow, he will give them clear answers on what is going to happen, not just to answers on what is going to happen, notjust to place a couples and gcses but the texts for people who we re gcses but the texts for people who were taking vocational exams this january, but there could be other colleges and sites where they are going to take the. They are passing the buck onto them which struck me as unfair. But whatever system they try to come up with, you will remember last time there was an algorithm that was fought and ended up algorithm that was fought and ended up with quite serious injustices and turns of results. This time there will nevertheless have to be some degree of moderation of grades for some various options the government are looking at and one of those is as the times suggests, having teachers assess current schools teachers assess current schools teachers assessing students grades. And if that is the case they need to
be monitored because different schools might assess them in different ways or certainly the grades might be different in other players. And you will need an army of inspectors to do that and i think it was the times suggesting to the chair of the education select committee, he suggested that it should not be done by computer because of what happened with the algorithm. That means doing it with people and said who they imply, it could need an army to moderate these results in which case he is suggesting retired teachers could be put out of retirement to come in and help. There were other options like some exams and some tests in core subjects in maths and english and others, we would have to see tomorrow what Gavin Williamson comes up tomorrow what Gavin Williamson comes up with. But it is clear that schools students and teachers are going to be expecting answers and he better try to come up with some. Anand what is the best way to measure 17 and 18 year olds get justice next august . It is hard . We are dealing with two biases, an algorithm will always have bias built into it and we saw that in the outcomes last year. But having your own teacher giving you a great is a recipe for bias as well. We need to find a way to mediate between those two and there are two interesting suggestions in this article in the times. The first is getting loads of teachers out of retirement to check the grades that teachers have given schoolkids but there is another suggestion also interesting from john suggestion also interesting from jotheremy who suggestion also interesting from john jeremy who is a professor of education at ucl, he says a proportion of what that is graded by teacher should be put on a website and made public so that we can get to see what sort of work is being. I think the point there is a gives
teachers good reason to think carefully before allowing their students to have higher grades and they should have it changes the incentives of those marking the work. Im not sure if each of those ways are perfect and i do think it is good we are having this discussion now and not after the exams have been taken as was the case last year. Our final paper, we are going back to the Daily Telegraph to donald trump who is dancing as anand told me earlier to ymca by the village people, thanks anand for correcting me on that. I feel guilty for knowing that. There had been speculative and he might go to scotla nd speculative and he might go to scotland before his term ends. Nicola sturgeon says we dont open the port is for people to be because they want to play golf. Very briefly, what might he end up doing when he is out of office . If he is not allowed to go to scotland and Nicola Sturgeon was that she wants to see him exit from the white house, he may play golf in one of his own golf courses in the states,
probably in florida. Maybe see him out on the greens in the coming weeks. Anand . A lot of american newspapers are hinting at the fact that they expecting to declare his candidacy for 2024 from a plane on the day of the inauguration, i dont know where that story comes from. But i think what happens this evening in georgia will be key to president trumps strategy. If the democrats dont hold the senate, and it makes it easier for him over the next four years. If you feel like watching my pleas essay watching because in a few minutes time in 11 minutes time, the polls will close and we might have early projections although i suspect in both cases there will be a long count. Thats it for the papers tonight. My thanks to pippa and anand. Goodbye. Hello, im Sarah Mulkerrins at the bbc sportscentre. We start with the sad news that former Manchester City and england midfielder colin bell has died aged 74 following a short illness. He won 48 caps for his country and made 492 appearances for city between 1966 and 1979, scoring 152 goals. During his time as a player at maine road, he won the Old First Division title, the fa cup, league cup and cup winners cup, and was widely regarded as one of the finest players of his generation. The club released a statement, saying, few players have left such an indelible mark on city. And in 2004, fans at the clubs voted to name one of the stands at Etihad Stadium in bells honour. Such a humble guy. I mean, this is man whos known as the king. And for that to be the case is a testament to how loved
and respected he was. I mean, looking at a team that today is a world class footballing club if colin bell was around now, hed be in pep guardiolas team. Theres no question, he had incredible stamina. He could play in any position, and he would be better than the players that played in that position. He was incredible. Tributes have also been pouring in on social media. Current city midfielder phil foden saying, extremely saddened to hear colin bell has passed away. The king of kippax was a true legend and someone ive grown up admiring. Youll be sorely missed, nijinsky. Former england striker gary lineker says bell was one of his favourite players growing up. A real gem for Manchester City and england. And one of citys most famous fans, liam gallagher, is also among those to pay tribute. Colin bell, who has
died at the age of 74. Tottenhams bid for a first trophy in 13 years is still on, as they through to the League Cup Final after beating championship side brentford 2 0. Spurs went in front afterjust 12 minutes Moussa Sissoko with this excellent header. But brentford, who had knocked out four premier league sides on their way to the semis, thought they had got back into the game in the second half through ivan toney here. But the goal was eventually ruled out for offside, following a lengthy var check. Tottenham made the most of that, and they put the result beyond doubt with a goal by son heung min. Brentford finished the game with ten men afterjosh dasilva was sent off following that reckless challenge on pierre emile hojbjerg. Spurs will face either Manchester City or Manchester United in the final. They play tomorrow. The premier league has confirmed that 40 players and staff tested positive for coronavirus between the 28th of december
and the 3rd ofjanuary thats the highest number since testing began. Tests are now twice a week across the 20 clubs. Meanwhile, scotlands first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, has said that celtic have questions to answer about their trip to dubai, and that possible breaches of social distancing rules while in the middle east should be looked into. The glasgow side travelled to dubai after their 1 0 loss to rangers at the weekend. Celtic insist the Training Camp was approved by the scottish government, while the scottish fa say they have no plans to investigate the trip. Elite sports can go overseas for Training Camp if that is important in the context of the training for competitions. For me, the question for celtic what is the purpose of them being there . Ive seen a comment from the club that said, its more for r r than for training. Ive also seen some photographs, and i can only comment on what ive seen. I dont know the full circumstances that would raise a question in my mind
about whether all the rules of what elite players have to do within their bubbles, around social distancing are being complied with. So i think there are things there that should be looked into. Elite sports being in a privileged position at many point in the past year, doing things that the general public cant do. And as long as that is the case, because we all want our sports teams to do well and be able to train properly as long as thats the case, its really important they dont abuse it, that they use it for the purpose its intended. The former leeds rhinos captain, stevie ward, has been forced to retire from rugby league at the age of 27 due to the after effects of concussions. Ward won two grand finals and a challenge cup with leeds, but says hes still suffering with migraines, dizziness, short term memory loss, and slurred speech following a concussion 11 months ago. Ward has called on the sport to become more proactive in how it protects players. Theres got to be a deep consideration, enormous consideration, and deep care when you mix in the brutality of what rugby can be with what i found out to be the fragility of the brain. And more education is needed around it more is always needed around it. More knowledge is needed. The intricate symptoms of it, the differences and cause to your day to day life need to be known. And that is all your sport for now. We will see you again soon. Hello there. Temperatures have been plummeting away in the night especially across the glens of scotland, 10 or 11 celsius here but theres just a hint as we go into next week that were exchanging the cold wind we have at the moment for something a little milder coming in off the atlantic but still quite a lot
of stagnant cold air and actually for the meantime, weve got that northeasterly or north northeasterly again with us through the day ahead. So, icy to start with some snow showers around and some freezing fog, particularly scotland and Northern Ireland. These showers will have a little bit of winteriness in them as well and temperatures are close enough to freezing to concern us with ice and there are warnings out for ice in some areas. The details are on the website. So, really bitterly cold for some, that hard frost to start in the north. But wednesday sees a little ridge of High Pressure for the north, still that feed of northeasterlies bringing further showers initially into east anglia, the south east and the channel islands. There mightjust be an easing in activity here as we go into the afternoon still a peppering of winter showers for northern and eastern parts of england, perhaps a fewer for eastern scotland and Northern Ireland but later in the day, weve got our next weather system approaching. But for many, despite some sunshine and a lot of dry weather around, it will stay cold particularly where the fog lingers, below freezing in these areas. But then through the evening and overnight, we have this coming into that cold air. So, readily turning to snow even at lower levels for scotland and for Northern Ireland. So, it wont be as harsh a frost here through the coming night but, nevertheless, we are likely to see more snow quite widely and it will be a harsher frost further south for some and with freezing fog across central and southern areas, too. So, thursday, well see that fog slow to clear, stagnating in some areas. Fewer showers for east anglia and the south east, and for the channel islands, weve got the northerly instead which will push our weather front southwards. Not a great deal of weather on it but enough to give a light covering of snow and then the cold air with snow showers follow behind. Snow to low levels once again. So, even though were bringing in a weather front inland off the atlantic, at that stage, its not getting any warmer. But what we will find is High Pressure builds in behind it. So, that will weaken our weather front and bring in some drier weather potentially as we head towards the weekend. Just the hint that temperatures start to lift a little next week but for the meantime,
cold weather warnings on the website