At the week in parliament. Hello and welcome to the week in parliament. Coming up on this programme the Health Secretary wants nhs staff to gear up for the roll out the new Coronavirus Vaccine if its approved in the next few weeks. When the science comes good to inject hope into millions i know that they will rise to the challenge of being ready when the science comes good to inject hope into millions of arms this winter. The government suffers a heavy defeat in the lords, as peers fillet a controversial bill that would give ministers the power to break International Law. I urge my noble friends on the front bench to recognise that this bill is notjust unlawful, but also unethical. And the head of the Football Association quits after using outdated language at a commons committee. Would you want to withdraw that . Isnt that exactly the sort of language that means inclusion is not a reality . If i said it, i deeply apologise for it. But first, the big news of the week was for once a ray of hope, with the announcement that early results from the worlds first effective Coronavirus Vaccine showed it could prevent more than 90 of people from getting covid. The vaccine has been developed by pharmaceutical Companies Pfizer and biontech and is one of ii vaccines currently in the final stages of testing. The companies now plan to apply for emergency approval for its use. The Health Secretary said hed asked the nhs to be ready to deploy it from the start of december but said there were still safety processes to go through. We do not yet know whether vaccine is approved, but i have tasked the nhs with being ready for any date from the ist of december. The logistics are complex. The uncertainties are real and the scale of the job is vast. But i know the nhs, brilliantly assisted by the armed services, will be up to the task. I want to thank, in advance, my nhs colleagues for the work that this will entail. I know that they will rise to the challenge of being ready when the science comes good to inject hope into millions of arms this winter. What is the governments current working assumption of the proportion of the population that needs to be vaccinated to establish herd immunity and bring r below one and what timeframe does he envision that happening . And how many doses does he think we will need to . He asked about the proportion of the population needing vaccinating. The honest truth to that question is we dont know what proportion of the population vaccination needs to reach in orderfor this to stop the epidemic. I welcome the progress made on the Pfizer Vaccine but it will take time before its widely available. And as he said earlier we dont yet know if we will reduce transmission. So it doesnt remove the need to control viral spread using current measures. It will be very helpful to know how long the rollout of the vaccinations will take once the secretary of state gets the go ahead. The critical answer for how long this takes is it depends on the speed of manufacture in the first instance. My goal is to be able to roll this out as quickly as it can be manufactured, and that manufacturing schedule is itself uncertain because this is really hard stuff to make. Given that its being manufactured in belgium and as he has noted it has to be kept at 70 degrees at all times until shortly before administration, what arrangements is he putting in place to ensure there is no delay of the supplies at the borders following the end of the brexit transition period, because any significant delay could result in precious supplies being damaged and rendered useless. I have confidence in our plans to be able to deliver the vaccine whatever the outcomes of the negotiations over our future relationships with europe. Matt hancock. But while there may have been good news on a vaccine, there was a row in the week over the outgoing head of the Vaccine Task Force, kate bingham, whos been in charge of coordinating research and procurement of a vaccine. Shes been accused of divulging Sensitive Information to financiers at a conference and appointing outside Public Relations consultants at a cost of over half a million pounds. She has not only disclosed official sensitive documents to Hedge Fund Managers in the United States but has spent £670,000 in taxpayers money on private pr advisers instead of using Civil Servants and is set to benefit financially from investments by the state. Miss bingham should be sacked. If shes not sacked, who will be held to account for this gross conflict of interest and misuse of public funds . Will it be the secretary of state or the Prime Minister . The Vaccine Task Force, which does of course sit in my department and is led by kate bingham, has done an absolutely brilliant job over the last few months. We have managed to secure 350 million doses across six of the most promising vaccine candidates. You will have seen the statement that came through from Pfizer Biontech yesterday. And, again, we were the first country in the world to secure access to that particular vaccine candidate. He talks about this spending. What i would say to him is that the senior responsible officer, in line with his delegated authority, approved this resourcing in accordance with Public Sector practices and frameworks. Alok sharma. But at Prime Ministers questions next day, the labour leader returned to the money spent by the Vaccine Task Force on pr consultants, accusing the Prime Minister of having a lax attitude to public money. Theres a real question as to how these contracts are being rewarded. About basic transparency and responsibility. And i know Prime Minister does not like that. This is not the Prime Ministers money, this is taxpayers money. Let me illustrate the lax attitude towards taxpayer money. Earlier this year, the government paid about £150 million to a company to deliver facemasks. Can the Prime Minister tell the house how many usable facemasks actually provided, were actually provided to nhs workers in the front lines under that contract . We are under a pandemic in which this government has delivered 32 billion items of personal protective equipment, and yes, it is absolutely correct, mr speaker, that it is necessary to work with the private sector, with manufacturers that provide equipment such as this. Some more effectively than others, mr speaker, but it is the private sector that makes the ppe and it is the private sector that provides the testing equipment, mr speaker, and it is the private sector that no matter how much the Party Opposite may hate them, it provides the vaccines and the scientific breakthroughs, mr speaker. Keir starmer said not a single facemask had been provided at a cost of £150 million, and he said there was a sharp contrast between the way the government sprayed money at companies that didnt deliver and its reluctance to provide Long Term Support to businesses and people at the hard end of the coronavirus crisis. With the latest figures showing a big rise in redundancies, the snps westminster leader demanded that a temporary increase thats been made to the benefit universal credit be made permanent. It is now beyond doubt that the chancellors final u turn came far too late for thousands that have already lost their jobs as a result of tory cuts and delays that took place. Uk unemployment has risen and redundancies are at a record high and nearly 800,000 fewer people are in unemployment. To support those who have lost their incomes, will the Prime Minister now commit to make the £20 uplift to universal credit permanent and extend to Legacy Benefits so that no one, no one, Prime Minister is left behind . Im delighted that the right honourable gentlemen is now supporting a universal credit because he was opposed to at the last election and yes, of course that uplifting continues and im 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 thats why ministers want the power to break the treaty. But peers were furious about that and what they saw as potential damage to the Northern IrelandPeace Process and the unity of the united kingdom. We must not be complicit, we must not be supine, and the only way available to us to indicate we are neither complicit nor supine is for us to say not content to each clause in this part of the bill. My professional life was lived out during the days and nights of the troubles. I have seen suffering, i have seen the hurt, i presided over funerals and ive seen the tears of young people. Another Northern Ireland peer said shed be voting against the clauses in the bill. They undermine the very principles of healing, of reconciliation, and of partnership that we were able to achieve through the belfast good friday agreement. How can we reproach other countries, russia, china, iran, if their behaviour becomes reprehensible when we ourselves have such scant regard for the treaties we sign up to . Does anyone seriously believe that they would not strengthen demands for a border pole in ireland . And does anyone seriously argue that part five could in any circumstances strengthen the union with scotland . Where the government and Public Opinion are as appalled as most member of your lordships house at the prospect of being part of a country which is reeling to flout International Law. I hope the government will reflect on the strength of feeling and wisdom of expertise shown in the debate on these clauses, and will not push for their reinstatement, but their replacement with others that better guarantee that the rule of law and the balances of power are upheld within our united kingdom. I urge my noble friends on the front bench to recognise that this bill is notjust unlawful but also unethical. And i believe immoral. The government did have a smattering of support. If parliamentary sovereignty means anything, it must mean parliament can enact legislation that preaches International Law on some occasions. Ministers must be free to recommend this to parliament, and i know that lawyers hate this, but the sovereignty of parliament is supreme and no country can be bound forever by an International Law. Politicaljudgment has to be used as to when it might be necessary. But when it came to the vote, peers inflicted a big defeat on the offending parts of the bill by 433 votes to 165, a majority of 268. And thats not the end of the story. The bill has further stages to go through in the upper house. Now, lets take a look at some other news in brief. Joe biden received congratulations from leaders around the world, recognising him as president elect of the United States. His first phone call to a european leader was to borisjohnson. A labour mp wondered how it went. The Prime Minister spoke for many of us when he took a call yesterday to congratulate president elect biden and Vice President elect harris on their emphatic win in the us president ial election, so does the Prime Minister now have any advice for his 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 and i do not resile from that, as it is the duty of all british Prime Ministers to have a Good Relationship with the white house but im delighted to find the many areas in which the incoming Biden Harris Administration is able to make common cause with us. Wednesday in the commons began with a short ceremony to mark armistice day. The speaker, sir lindsay hoyle, led whats thought to be the first ever Remembrance Service in the chamber. Many National Events on remembrance sunday were scaled back or cancelled because of covid restrictions. The speakers chaplain led prayers, which are normally held behind closed doors, whilst mr speaker read from Laurence Binyons 1914 poem for the fallen. Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn. At the going down of the sun and in the morning, we will rememberthem. All we will remember them. A former army officer paid tribute to men under his command whod died in the ballykelly bombing in Northern Ireland in 1982 and recounted how hed comforted a dying girl caught up in the blast at the droppin well disco. She said, am i going to die . And, forgive me, i said yes. I could see no other. There was blood everywhere. And she said, am i going to die now . And i said, i think you are. And she said, will you hold me . I held her and she died within two minutes. I wept. She died in a state of grace. All of hong kongs pro democracy lawmakers resigned after beijing forced the removal of four of their colleagues. On wednesday, beijing passed a resolution allowing the citys government to dismiss politicians deemed to be a threat to national security. The opposition lawmakers resigned in solidarity. In the commons, a foreign 0ffice minister repeatedly refused to say if so called magnitsky style sanctions will be imposed on named individuals in china and in hong kong, including its chief executive, carrie lam. Will he now accept we need to sanction individuals responsible for any of these actions . Lets start with carrie lam in hong kong. Its not entirely appropriate to speculate who may be designated under the sanctions regime in the future, as that could reduce the impact, but we are carefully considering further designations. Every single time he says, i cant speculate, hes actually announcing that hes not implementing sanctions. To accuse this government of sitting idly by on this issue, frankly, is nonsense. Weve led the International Community in this regard. Footballer Marcus Rashford has carried out a high Profile Campaign in recent months, calling for children from disadvantaged backgrounds to be given free meals during school holidays. On monday, the work and pensions secretary outlined details of a £400 million package to support poorer children and their families in england to help with food and bills. The Prime Minister has been clear that this government will use all its efforts to make sure no child shall go hungry this winter. This government also wants to ensure every child reaches their full potential. I still cant believe that the government has had to be dragged, kicking and screaming, to the right place on this, and to acknowledge that in this country, in this day and age, no child should be going hungry. Theres to be a four Day Bank Holiday weekend to mark the queens Platinum Jubilee in 2022. Her majesty will have reigned for 70 years on the 6th of february, but events will be held from the 2nd to the 5th ofjune. The culture secretary said it would be a truly historic moment and deserved a celebration to remember. The events will reflect the queens reign, the longest of any british sovereign. The Education Minister in wales has confirmed there will be no gcse, as or a level exams in the summer of 2021. Grades will instead be based on classroom assessments. In a statement to the welsh parliament, Kirsty Williams said it was impossible to guarantee a level Playing Field for exams due to the continuing impact of the covid pandemic. I have seen concerns that we cannot predict the status of the virus in the summer, and therefore it could be difficult to physically hold exams. And it is true that there could be challenges. However, i must reiterate that the primary reason for my policy is down to fairness and the time learners will spend in school and colleges will have varied hugely. Home learning, blended learning really is no equivalent of learning in a school. The inconsistency of the experience that our young people and, to be fair, our teachers as well, that time out of school its been effectively pinpointed in your decision today as a prime reason for dropping exams as we know them and rather about the uncertainty about what the summer will look like. Its what weve already experienced seems to be a driving force in this. Translation no government should put its young people under significant pressures unnecessarily, as happened last summer. Never again should we put qualifications before wellbeing. Never again should we create so much anxiety to thousands of young people in wales. The policy of plaid cymru is to get rid of exams, and thats a perfectly legitimate policy to have. Its not a policy i share. I believe exams are an important part of our education system. And if i thought it was possible to run exams in a fair and equitable way, thats what i would have done this year. Its not an easy decision that weve made today to scrap them. At holyrood, the first minister, nicola sturgeon, faced questions over a coding error that led to tracing staff overestimating the number of people contacted within 2a hours of testing positive for coronavirus. Corrected data shows that in some weeks, test and protect failed to contact about half of positive cases within that time. We have learned that the figures showing that the number of people contacted by the system was wrong. And we also learned from the Health Secretary yesterday that the first minister was told that they were wrong a week ago, and yet the findings were quietly buried in the revision to a Public Health scotland paper and only came to light thanks tojournalists digging. The first minister is made much of the need for transparency and accountability in this crisis. Does she feel that in this instance, that standard has been met . The first minister explained what had happened. What the error meant was that previously, if you had, for example, been tested at 9am on a monday morning, and then you were contacted by a contact tracer having tested positive at, say, 11am on the tuesday morning, the system was counting that as within 2a hours because it was the next calendar day when, in actual fact, that was slightly more than 2a hours and therefore should have been in the 24 to 48 hour period. But in many cases, this is a difference of a very small number of hours. Now, the Health Secretary was asked yesterday how many more people have been infected as a result of this error, and the answer to that is that we simply dont know. Isnt that the problem here, first minister . This is not something that has meant larger numbers of people have gone missed or undetected for long periods of time. Nicola sturgeon said that the World Health Organization or who standard was for 80 of new cases to have their contacts traced and quarantined in 72 hours and scotlands test and protect service was beating that. But the data shows that in eight weeks, over august to october, you failed to meet that who standard. Were agreed that it is in all of our interest for the government to succeed, but thats why its so worrying to see the system struggling so much. Yes, we have had to build up the resilience of test and protect, and the figures that it is now achieving, the performance that it is now achieving, is by the gold who standard exceptionally good. A green msp turned to the potential dangers of online conspiracy theories. Research by hope not hate has shown that one in four people in this country agree with online conspiracy theories. And the Royal Society has suggested that around a third of the public are uncertain or unlikely to accept a vaccine when its available. What action is the Scottish Government taking to address this dangerous movement, which has caused so much harm in the us both to democracy and to Public Health, and what will it do here in scotland to build Public Confidence in the future vaccine so that we can maximise uptake . Nicola sturgeon agreed the risk was a very real one and the Scottish Government would take steps to address concerns that people had if and when the vaccine was ready to use. The chair of the Football Association resigned after a row about comments he made to a group of mps. Greg clarke quit over his use of language in reference to black players while giving evidence to the digital, culture, media and sport committee. We dont have an out and proud member in the mens game, at the elite level, of the lgbtq community, do we . Why do you think that is . And the answer is i dont know, right . Because ive spent a lot of time talking to people from the lgbt community. Ive talked to lgbt athletes from other sports whove come out, and the views ive heard is. If i look at what happens to high profile female footballers, high profile coloured footballers, and the abuse they take on social media. Not from the crowds, because youre getting this behaviour in crowds, but largely, people support decency here. Theyre going to behave because they will be banned for life if they give racist or homophobic abuse. But social media is a free for all. This also needs to stop at your door, mr clarke, in terms of whats being done inside the stadiums and inside the culture that is, unfortunately, mens elite football. Hed spoken to some top footballers privately. And they said, greg, there is not a problem in the changing rooms. You know, a lot of the guys know who is gay and who isnt. And its not an issue. Its their choice, not a big deal. After those exchanges, a Labour Committee member challenged mr clarke on his language. When you said something earlier on, i think i heard you refer to coloured people earlier on. If thats the case, would you want to withdraw that language . Because isnt that exactly the sort of language that means that inclusion is not a reality, even though football is very diverse and has many people within it from ethnic minority backgrounds and also people who are gay . Let me say three things. Firstly. But what about one thing . If you did say that, would you. . That only takes one thing. It doesnt require three things, really. Well, if you please allow me to respond. One, if i said it, i deeply apologise for it. Secondly, i am a product of having worked overseas. I worked in the usa for many years, where i was required to use the term people of colour, and sometimes. Because that was the product of their diversity legislation and positive discrimination format. Sometimes, i trip over my words. All right, mr clarke, youve apologised. 0k, thank you. Well, greg clarke later resigned, issuing a statement saying, my unacceptable words in front of parliament were a disservice to our game and to those who watch, play, referee and administer it. And thats it from me for another week, but do join me on Bbc Parliament on monday night at 11pm for a daily round up of life at westminster. But for now, from me, alicia mccarthy, goodbye. Hello. More rain to come during sunday, even windier in southern england. The day will have torrential rain in south east england with the risk of flooding. For many of us, well see rain in the morning as it pushes east, brightening up behind with a few heavy showers and persistent rain continuing in south west scotland in the afternoon, and another zone of heavy rain in southern england. Along the south coast with gusts around 60 65 mph for a time, nearer 70 in the channel islands. Further coastal flooding at times in the south and west as we see high tides combined with the strong winds and big waves. Further showers as we go on through the night and into monday morning, particularly into the north west. A cooler start on monday and in fact, sunday will be a cooler day. It will be dry and sunnierfor a time on monday before we see the next weather system coming in from the atlantic with clouds and outbreaks of rain heading into western england, wales and Northern Ireland as the day goes on. Getting milder again by tuesday. Good morning, welcome to breakfast, with sima kotecha and chris mason. Our headlines today a call for social Media Companies to do more to stop the spread of anti vaccine content. Thousands of protesters turn out in washington, to support president trumps unsubstantiated claims of voterfraud. More money for green spaces in england to restore species and combat climate change. Can ayone catch the world number one, dustinjohnson, who carries a four shot lead into the final day of golfs masters at augusta . We have some