Wednesday in parliament. Hello again, and welcome to wednesday in parliament as borisjohnson is warned his covid controls arent working. Its the 3rd of february, 2021, with new variants in the country, our schools are shut and our borders are open. The number of people getting a jab reaches ten million, but the head of test and trace strikes a note of caution. The big concern and worry is that the virus mutates and succeeds in finding a form that can escape the vaccine. And remembering a long life, lived well. I invite members to nowjoin me for a minutes silence to commemorate sir toms life. But first, The Government says its a hugely significant milestone in the fight against coronavirus. Ten Million People in the uk have now received their first dose of the Covid Vaccine. But at Prime Ministers questions, borisjohnson was told that the biggest threat to the Vaccine Programme was his governments reluctance to order the complete closure of the uks borders to limit the arrival of new st
This came after the Prime Minister rejected suggestions that he oversaw budget cuts that meant that crumbling concrete in schools in england was not replaced. It comes after claims from a former senior Civil Servant that rishi sunak halved the money available for the safety work while he was chancellor in 2021. This afternoon the Education Secretary apologised after her frustration boiled over during questioning about the way the government was handling the situation. It all comes as thouands of School Children mainly in england start the new term not sure whether their schools will be fully open or not. We start tonight with our Political Editor chris mason on a busy first day back for mp5. Fight night good evening, sophie. Certainly they fight night good evening, sophie. Certainly they see fight night good evening, sophie. Certainly they see as fight night good evening, sophie. Certainly they see as mp5 fight night good evening, sophie. Certainly they see as mps return i certainly th
The man who used to be the Department For Educations most senior Civil Servant reckons he did. I was absolutely amazed to see that the decision made by the government was to halve the School Rebuilding programme down from 100 a year to 50 a year. The chancellor, of course, was at the time . Rishi sunak. So, what does the Prime Minister make of that . I think that is completely and utterly wrong. Actually, one of the first things i did as chancellor in my first Spending Review in 2020 was to announce a new ten year School Rebuilding programme for 500 schools. Now, that equates to about 50 schools a year that will be refurbished or rebuilt. And if you look at what weve been doing over the previous decade, thats completely in line with what weve always done. This Secondary School in County Durham was meant to open for the new term tomorrow, but it cant because of dangerous concrete. In both 2020 and 2021, the government promised 50 schools a year would be rebuilt. In 2019, the National Au
Good afternoon. The Prime Minister has said he wont be rushed to making a decision about the h52 high speed rail link, after widespread reports that he is planning to axe the birmingham to Manchester Leg of the project. He told the bbc today he wants to take time to consider what to do next. Lets get the latest now from our Political Correspondent nick eardley at the conservative Party Conference in manchester. Talk about hst has dominated conference this week. The Prime Minister wants conference this week. The Prime Minister wants to conference this week. The Prime Minister wants to talk conference this week. The Prime Minister wants to talk about minister wants to talk about long term decisions at this conference, trying to tell us across the country that he is prepared to make big, difficult decisions, but these conferences see the normal intensity of politics dialled up. Every single comment you make is scrutinised for what it might or might not mean. What has been fascinating over
Rishi sunak faces pressure to spell out the future of the High Speed Rail Link to the north of england, as businesses and politicians demand answers. As businesses and all as businesses and i can say is im not going to be forced all i can say is im not going to be forced into a premature decision. And pope francis appears to leave open the possibility of priests blessing some same sex couples. Now to Nagorno Karabakh which has been left virtually empty of Ethnic Armenians after it came under full azerbaijani control. We have been speaking to a professor of armenian studies. It is so important to hear the story of people you have talked to. If you can tell me once again, you have been speaking to those who have fled Nagorno Karabakh, what are the main problems and issues and fears that people you have been speaking to have right now . First of all, ithink speaking to have right now . First of all. I think i speaking to have right now . First of all, i thinki should speaking to have righ