it s wednesday, 31st january. our main story. scotland s former first minister, nicola sturgeon is due to give evidence about the decisions she took during the pandemic, when she appears before the covid inquiry today. ms sturgeon, who led the scottish response to the coronavirus outbreak is expected to face questions surrounding lockdowns, and missing whatsapp messages as the inquiry continues sitting in edinburgh. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon reports. 1,044 positive cases were reported yesterday. nicola sturgeon was at the helm throughout scotland s pandemic response. as head of the scottish government, she was the key decision maker and first in the firing line when things went wrong. we will have made mistakes on all aspects of the handling. now about to be questioned on that handling and how decisions the truth, the whole truth. the former first minister s closest political ally amongst those who admitted texts between the pair no longer exist. are those t
welcome back. the british government has walked away from a post brexit trade deal with canada, after nearly two years of negotation. the uk also had concerns about the steep 245% import taxes canada has slapped on british cheese. it means, at least for now the uk s trading terms, with canada will be worse than when it was part of the eu. live to westminster, we can speak to political correspondent helen catt. dead and buried orjust on the back burner? fin dead and buried or “ust on the back burner? , h, burner? on pause, the uk government sa 5 burner? on pause, the uk government sa sit burner? on pause, the uk government sa s it sa s burner? on pause, the uk government says it says it s burner? on pause, the uk government says it says it s open burner? on pause, the uk government says it says it s open to burner? on pause, the uk government says it says it s open to reopening - says it says it s open to reopening these trade talks but as he just pointed out, they ha
juggernauts contending for the top prize. hello, welcome to verified live. tata steel will push ahead with plans to close both blast furnaces in its south torbert plant in wales, and it is expected to lead to the loss of over 3000 jobs talbot. the gmb union says it has alternative proposals aimed at saving jobs. a reminder of what we are saying, the bbc understands that tata steel is going to press ahead with plans to close blast furnaces at its plants at port talbot in south wales and that threatens the loss of more than 3000 jobs. the decision follows a meeting between tata steel executives and the wider community and unions in the meeting happened at a hotel in london today. and the meeting. the company will replace blast furnaces which produced new steel from iron or with a modern electric arc furnace which will produce usable steel from scrap metal, and it will be more environmentally friendly to operate but crucially it will require a smaller workforce. but crucia
is to close blast furnaces in port talbot with 3,000 jobs to go. the union plan to savejobs has failed. so what does it say more generally about the green transition? also in the programme. a walk out in northern ireland. no government, no funding, no pay rises. is the standoff over stormont now a constiutional crisis. a constiutional crisis? and is it the demand for cocaine europe that has turned ecuador into a war zone with the drug cartels? is there a future for steel making in the uk? and if there is then what sort of sector does it become. that very issue has been under discussion today between unions representing the steel workers of south wales and the bosses of the tata steel making company. no official word of what has been agreed but we understand tata steel is to close both blast furnaces at its port talbot works with the loss of up to 3,000 jobs. instead of blast furnaces, tata have a plan backed by the british government to invest in a new, greener, electric ar
have the ability to keep making so called virgin steal from scratch within the uk. there are also clearly concerned about the workforce here. while there are plans to bring a free port to port talbot, potentially building aviation fuel plant here, too, those plans are in the medium to long term, there is nothing to immediately shift these workers do. at £100 million pot has been announced to potentially help workers to retrain or find other work. it would be very difficult to find a pathway forward until those other potential major employers arrive in port talbot. arrive in port talbot. thank you very much arrive in port talbot. thank you very much indeed. arrive in port talbot. thank you | very much indeed. presumably, arrive in port talbot. thank you - very much indeed. presumably, the fallout from this will be analysed now. what is your expectation as to where it goes in terms of steel production in the uk in the short term? ., , ., , ., production in the uk in the s