Now on bbc news Tuesday In Parliament. Hello again and welcome to Tuesday In Parliament. As the Health Secretary promises to come down hard on a new coronavirus strain. Our mission must be to stop its spread altogether and break those chains of transmission. But is there light at the end of the tunnel in scotland . We may be able to begin looking towards a careful and gradual easing around the start of march. And the death of a hero, tributes to captain sir tom moore. He brought joy to the nation. He was an inspiration to everybody in this country. But first, the Health Secretary has faced calls from mps for stronger Border Controls after the outbreak of the South African strain of coronavirus here in the uk. Amid concern that the new variant is spreading in the community, matt hancock said it was critical that people in areas singled out for enhanced testing stay at home. The Health Secretary did have some good news, more than 10 million doses of vaccines have been given in the uk, but he told mps The Government was still proceeding with caution. We have found here 105 cases of the variant first identified in south africa. Including 11 cases which dont appear to have any links to international travel. As with the variant first identified here in the uk, theres currently no evidence to suggest it is any more severe, but we have to come down on it hard. Our mission must be to stop its spread altogether and break those chains of transmission. He wants to come down hard on this variant, but isnt the lesson of mass testing, such as in liverpool, that people are hesitant to take a test if they arent compensated for any loss of income associated we are fighting this virus with one hand tied behind our back asking the low paid to go hungry in order not to spread the virus. The snp said the detection of over 100 cases of the South African was very concerning. The concern, of course, i is about current vaccines will still give a significant degree of protection, this variants resistance i to some Covid Antibodies could reduce their effectiveness. So does the Secretary Of State plan to tighten internal travell restrictions to avoid it. Spreading across the uk, as happened with the kent variant . She asked about travel and weve already put in place rules against all non essential travel with a clear stay local guidance. We also have mandatory isolation for new arrivals. So, yes, we have tightened, in response to new evidence that she mentioned. The chair of the Home Affairs Committee said borders were failing to stop the spread. Several weeks after the variant was identified, its still possible for people to travel home from south africa and elsewhere with no quarantine hotels, no quarantine taxis, no test on arrival and still go straight onto public transport in the uk. Why is that still allowed, and how long is he going to allow it for . Well, as the right honourable lady knows, we brought in significant measures at the border to control the arrival of those from countries at risk, for instance, south africa and other Southern African nations. Nations around brazil and brazil also portugal. And the self isolation requirements she mentions are absolutely critical, but we are also of course looking at what further measures are necessary. Several mps focused on the impact of school closures. Parents are desperate to have the schools open, the Teachers Want the schools open, businesses want the schools open, and even our children, god bless them, want to have schools open. So, when can my right honourable friend confirm that schools will reopen on or before the 8th of march . I can confirm, as the Prime Minister has set out, that the schools will be the first in the queue for reopening, and we will consider the data in the middle of this month, and my right and honourable friend the Prime Minister will set out a statement after that. And we will give two weeks notice. Schools will not open before the 8th of march, and we will look at the data. Why doesnt it make sense, madame Deputy Speaker, l for teachers and other essential Frontline Workers to be vaccinated before| perfectly fit and Healthy People like us, madame Deputy Speaker, in their 605 . Because, madame Deputy Speaker, people in their 605 are more likely to die from covid that people who are younger. A tory critical of The Government approach sought assurances that restriction will be lifted sooner rather than later. Given that overall it is going so well, and ahead of what he thought it would, can i ask him to confirm that on march the 8th, when we start seeing a schools going back, that it will be those two metrics deaths and hospitalisations, as they fall, which will guide the Reopening Notjust of schools, but of the rest of the economy. Matt hancock thought deaths would fall more quickly than hospitalisations. The other to consider reservations are the other variants that put us at risk and other than the Vaccination Programme rolls out well. I would not say that the Vaccination Programme is the head of plans, i would say its on track. I would make no further claim than that. Matt hancock. Scotlands First Minister has said the lockdown must remain in place at least at the end of the month, although pupils will begin a phased return to school from the 22nd of february, with the youngest going back to the classroom first. In a statement to msps, the First Minister said the figures to show Real Progress but the situation remained fragile. All of what i set out underlines the need for very extreme caution in ourfight. Especially as we all do, want to get some children Back To School later this month. That is why cabinet has reached the conclusion that the Lockdown Restrictions must stay in place until at least the end of february. If our progress continues, then i am cautiously, and i stress cautiously, optimistic that as more and more people get vaccinated and with the protection of some of the additional measures that i will set up shortly, we may be able to begin looking forward, with the careful and gradual easing around the start of march, and i will give an update on that in two weeks� time. The scottish conservatives welcomed the return of schools but question progress in delivering Covid Vaccines. All the evidence shows the rollout is slow, staggering and way behind the rest of the uk. We record highs elsewhere this weekend and on sundays, so, the lowest numbers ofjabs administered since the start of the rollout over a month ago. As we said last week, the new Mass Vaccination Centres already open elsewhere will help pick up the pace. But all throughout january the First Minister has disputed any and all criticism, shes rubbished suggestions that the Scotland Public will keep missing targets that it needed to hit. I havent rubbished the considerations of anybody. Weve worked with people to make sure that any issues raised are properly addressed and any challenges faced are overcome. In terms of the notion that we will be living with restrictions until all of us across the uk and the world have vaccinated significant proportions of people, thats right to point out. Its also important for all of us to be candid, given that we dont yet know about the impact of the vaccine on transmission. We may actually be living with some degree of restrictions even after we have vaccinated significant proportions of the population. Labour focussed on education. Yesterday, the fiscal studies set up by the time is pandemic is over, most children will have missed more than half the year of normal, in person schooling. The lifetime cost of this could be as much as £40,000. So, the effect of Covid On Lost Learning can transact a lower income and higher inequality. I dont think anybody has anything other than to the concern. I know im deeply concerned about it the ongoing impact of young people having their school life so seriously disrupted. Thats why the most important objective that we have The Government is to get young people Back To School. Nicola sturgeon and the welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford he said we also turned to see the benefit of lockdown introduced before christmas. A number of people suffering from coronavirus is going down every day, down to 140 but per 100,000 today. The Positivity Rate is going down every day. The number of people in our hospitals with coronavirus are starting to come down, not done anything like enough but the trend is now downwards and we have seen the first impact of that in our Critical Care capacity as well. All of those are very important achievements. Mark drakeford, the First Minister of wales. You are watching Tuesday In Parliament with me, david cornock. Michael gove has told mps that trust between the uk and the eu was eroded after brussels tried to trigger an Emergency Part of the brexit deal relating to Northern Ireland to control Covid Vaccine exports. The Northern Ireland protocol was set up separate physical board for goods between the north and the republic. But it contains a clause, article 16, which allows it to be suspended if its causing serious economic or societal difficulties. On friday, the eu said it planned to invoke article 16 as part of plans to control the export of astrazenecas Covid Vaccine over concerns it could be transported to the uk by the back door, a decision later reversed. The Cabinet Office minister kept the comments to answer an urgent question. Article 16 exists for good reasons. But its meant to be invoked only after notification, only after all other options are exhausted, and in the interests of the people of Northern Ireland. Mr speaker, none of these conditions were met. Worse still, neither the uk government representing the people of Northern Ireland, nor the Irish Government were informed. Trust is been eroded, damage has been done, and urgent action is therefore needed. Peace, progress and Strong Community relations in Northern Ireland have been a hard won, and the recent days have seen an increase in attention, as reported last night, in belfast having kept away from work following their safety. This now requires us to work calmly. It requires us to work at speed. The urgent question had been asked by labour. The european commissions actions was a serious mistake and i very much welcome the chance the respond. With all staff withdrawn from the ports from belfast with alleged threats to the safety. Well have a responsibility to dial it down this rhetoric and make sure the people in Northern Ireland are safe. Can he advise that how he is sure that the article is never again undermined to the political realities have under or well understood by all concerned, and what steps have been taken to reassure all communities in Northern Ireland that their lives and livelihoods will be protected. But did not address her point about the future in acting of article 16. The snp said the eu public decision to trigger it was a significant error ofjudgement. The Prime Minister himself said he would the Prime Minister himself said he would have no hesitation in triggering article 16. The dups triggering article 16. The dups Westminster Leader making clear his dups Westminster Leader making clear his party had opposed it from clear his party had opposed it from the clear his party had opposed it from the outset stopping what we need from the outset stopping what we need is not tinkering around the edges. But we need is not tinkering around the edges the edges. But recognition in Northern Ireland the edges. But recognition in Northern Ireland was the edges. But recognition in Northern Ireland was a the edges. But recognition in i Northern Ireland was a police in the Northern Ireland was a police in the uk Northern Ireland was a police in the uk internal Northern Ireland was a police in the uk Internal Market Northern Ireland was a police i in the uk Internal Market must be restored in the uk Internal Market must be restored and in the uk Internal Market must be restored and this in the uk Internal Market must be restored and this protocol. Be restored and this protocol is preventing be restored and this protocol is preventing that be restored and this protocol is preventing that from is preventing that from happening is preventing that from happening is preventing that from haueninu. ,. ,. , happening. The questions on im orts happening. The questions on imports and happening. The questions on imports and vat happening. The questions on imports and vat on happening. The questions on imports and vat on cars imports and vat on cars continue to be addressed and it is in that spirit that we will continue to work with colleagues to address these issues. In colleagues to address these issues. ,. , issues. In Northern Ireland, words have issues. In Northern Ireland, words have consequences. L issues. In Northern Ireland, i words have consequences. Can they words have consequences. Can they agree with me that it is time they agree with me that it is time to they agree with me that it is time to dial down the words on this and time to dial down the words on this and take action of this protocot this and take action of this protocol. It is a direct result of britain protocol. It is a direct result of britain leaving the eu and customs of britain leaving the eu and Customs Party. Of britain leaving the eu and Customs Party of britain leaving the eu and Customs Party. Alliance party leader had Customs Party. Alliance party leader had had Customs Party. Alliance party leader had had gritty Customs Party. Alliance party leader had had gritty scroll i Customs Party. Alliance party| leader had had gritty scroll on his door on friday night. Him and other mps were worried about incidents leaving to start being withdrawn from inspection duties. Can start being withdrawn from inspection duties. Inspection duties. Can we confirm inspection duties. Can we confirm that inspection duties. Can we confirm that the inspection duties. Can we confirm that the threat i inspection duties. Can we confirm that the threat of violence is not allowed to influence government policy. And we should work with the eu and uk to address development. The government has condemned a Military Coup in myanmar and called for the release of the countrys elected leader, Aung San Suu Kyi. The army declared a state of emergent thing after accusing Aung San Suu Kyi of fraud. Shes being detained along with hundred of mps. A foreign Office Minister called for the release of those being held under restoration of The Government. The events of sunday night have filled us with a sense of sadness. And of revulsion. Our thoughts are with the people of myanmar who have once again been robbed of their inherent democratic rights. The elections in 2020, though by no means perfect, where an important step on myanmars path to democracy. We must receive assurances that their we must receive assurances that their safety, well being we must receive assurances that their safety, well being and their safety, well being and rights their safety, well being and rights are being respected. The State Of Emergency must be repealed, arbitrary detentions reversed, the outcome of the democratic elections respected, and the National Assembly peacefully reconvened. The uk already has sanctions on members of the Myanmar Military involved in whats been called a campaign of genocide against the countrys Rohingya Muslim minority, but many mps wanted further action. This Military Coup i is a flagrant breach of the Constitution Of Myanmar and it must be condemned in the strongest terms. The armys claims of voter fraud are utterly serious. I this is a naked power grab. This government must now. Immediately impose sanctions that directly target. The military and their financial backers. We on these benches strongly support the magnitsky sanctions, but lets be clear, such as in russia and china, | and this is not the case for myanmar. This army who claims to serve the people, who claims to put the Public Interest first by overthrowing a democratically elected leader is the worst, the single worst country in the world for vaccinating its citizens. Does this not demonstrate that rather than being servers of the people, the Myanmar Military are its villages, its occupiers and its thieves. Pillagers. There have been welcome sanctions on individuals. 0n the military itself, its a huge commercial enterprise and is vulnerable to sanction. Giving our presidency, the 67, an dthe un security council, l we are using these opportunities to drive forward the International Response, and this will include dealing and liaising with our friendsi in the eu. And we all need to stand together to demonstrate that we will not stand in some version of democracy. Subversion. The major player in this crisis is china. Myanmar is far more dependent on their and the relationship between the two governments has been destabilising given the actions in their region. Notwithstanding what grievances we may have, this is a moment where we should be working together, including with china, to solve this crisis. Others were less certain about such an approach ahead of a metting of the un secuirty council. Does the Minister Share my concern that chinas stronghold in un institutions mean it might stifle the meaning Going Forward . I know and share many of the concerns that she has with the ability of countries to be able to veto action i in that multilateral body, but be in no doubt, the United Kingdom is on the front foot and leading the International Response with regards to this crisis. | nigel adams. The bitter dispute over fire and rehire practices at centrica, the Parent Company of british gas, has resulted in claims of intimidation from both sides. The companys Chief Executive told mps that his wife and son had been sent excrement in the post. Both mps and the gmb union said employees had been pressurised in out of hours phone calls and were suffering from stress related illness. The gmb has accused the firm of forcing engineers to accept worse terms and hours of work or face redundancy. In my Working Experience as a full time official, over 25 years, ive never had a circumstance where, before we have even begun formal negotiations, that the employer has put what our members quite correctly describe as a gun to their head and said that we will sack and rehire if necessary the entire workforce if you do not agree to the changes that we want to make. Some of our colleagues, over 20 of our colleagues, will have paid absence under this. A substantial number of our colleagues will see more holidays. Youre asking a lot of our colleagues to go from 37 to 40 hours per week, but the reality is that weve lost too many jobs over the past several years. And when we can see that the model is far more expensive than a contractor model, something has to give. I didnt want to cut peoples pay, and i thought it was reasonable to ask them to work 40 hours a week. I regret that were in this dispute, and im responsible for every decision this company makes. But i dont want to stand by and watch more jobs being lost. For the majority of engineers, around about 5,000 being asked to move from 37 to 40 hours, there is of course those additional three hours per week. On top of that, theyre being asked to do an extra half hour at the end and the beginning of the day, so that makes between five and a half and eight hours a day of work. There is the possibility of earning the three hours back, but there are no guarantees. Has centrica received from the Government Support during the pandemic, and if so, were they aware of your plans i to fire and rehire workers when you receive this support . We paid in total to staff who were furloughed £35 million, of which £27 million was made by The Government and was passed on to our colleagues. We are very grateful. I have texts coming in from your staff. One man who says, actually, i dont know if its a man or a woman. Ive had chest pains for a few weeks now, anxiety, body aches, headaches and shortness of breath. This person even took a covid test because he thought that was the reason, but it wasnt, it was anxiety because of this hire and rehire action that youre taking. Would you care to comment . Undoubtedly, what im asking people to do is difficult. However, my view is that i would rather do everything in my power to save the 20,000 jobs that have been cut rather than watch. I had one colleague tell me the other day. Theyve been with us for two years theyve been with us for two years and theyve been with us for two years and been through three rouhds years and been through three rounds of years and been through three rounds of redundancy. I know this puts a lot of pressure on people. My wife and teenage son have a package of excrement delivered to them. And there was a note about fire and rehire this is something that affects absolutely everybody. Im not immune to this. In my 25 years of an official, ive never seen this level of pressure in a work force at any point. Of e mails, of meetings, leverages deployed by managers, telephoning people within hours, outside hours, telling them in some way, there was something wrong with them having a different view from the one of the company. Its absently unprecedented. Ive not seen anything like that. I was concerned to hear about pressure being applied to individual workers. Youve not been calling engineers yourself, have you . No, i spoke to an engineer who is on strike on saturday because i got a message for him and i called and have a chat. I listened to him. He gave me ideas as to how to move forward, so i do speak to colleagues very regularly. But i havent called anyone to pressure them to sign a contract. I support peoples right to go on strike. I take exeption at inflammatory language. I havent done that. The death of the war veteran and charity fundraiser, captain sir tom moore. The Prime Minister ordered the union flag above number 10 at half mast. Sir tom, who was 100 years old, raise more than £20,000 for nhs charities. He died after Testing Positive for covid 19. News of his passing was broken by Deputy Speaker nigel evans during a debate on a transport bill. On behalf of the house of commons, can i pass our deepest condolences to our family . He broughtjoy to the nation. He was an inspiration to everybody in this country and his achievement was properly recognised by a knighthood, which was presented by her majesty the queen in person at the special ceremony, and i know the entire nation will mourn his passing. Mr Deputy Speaker, that is very sad news indeed. Some people are born great, some people achieve greatness and some have Greatness Thrust upon them, and i think sir tom probably was all three of those. He was perhaps the perfect example of that golden generation. He was a gentleman, j an inspiration, a light in the covid darkness, and a Cheerful Ray Of Hope and of course above all, to his family, to whom we send condolences. | he will be terribly missed, not only by them, but by the whole nation. Robert courts. We can expect more tributes on wednesday when Boris Johnson will face mps for Prime Ministers questions. I hope you will be able tojoin me for that and more highlights. Until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. Hello there. Tuesday brought us some very heavy snow across parts of scotland, but more especially in northern england. And that caused significant transport disruption at one stage, the a62 was completely shut, along with the snake pass. And thats the main road link between manchester and sheffield. The boundary between the mild air we have in the south and the cold air in the north is heading into scotland. And its here where the risk of snow will stay really through the rest of this week. Heavy snow across the high ground with significant accumulations. There is still the scope of transport disruption but the risk of disruption will increase towards the end of the week. Why do i say that . Because at lower elevations over the next few days, temperatures will be dropping by a couple of degrees celsius, tipping the balance from rain more to snowfall at lower levels hence the risk of disruption is more likely to increase later in the week. Right now across the central lowlands, weve got rain, a bit of sleet coming through as well. The snow mainly confined to the high ground here, also across the very high ground and across the far north of england, too. Delving into this zone, as we go through wednesday, we will continue to see that rain, a bit of sleet at times across the central belt, so probably nothing in the way of snow settling. If you go into the hills, yes, above 100 metres elevation, youre more likely to see snow, settling snow above 200 metres elevation, 10 20 cm over the next 48 hours. Elsewhere, weve got some bright skies in the west, but heavy rain across Southern England very heavy at times in the london area, and itll turn wet as well throughout much of east anglia. Mild in the south, but obviously where weve got the snow falling, particularly in the hills, temperatures struggling to get much above freezing at all in scotland. Through wednesday night, well continue to see that mucky mixture, really, in scotland. There might be a bit more in the way of snow starting to come down to some slightly lower levels across the north of the country, as those temperatures just start to edge downwards Just A Little Bit might be enough to tip the balance, perhaps a little bit of snow across the high ground of northern england, as well. For thursday, again, as the air gets colder, weve got a tendency to see a bit more snow getting down to some of those lower levels. In the south, weve got some rain, a few brighter spells for wales and the midlands, still mild in the south, still cold into scotland. And then beyond that, as we look at the forecast through friday and into the weekend beyond, there is a tendency for the weather to turn colder, and we may see it some snowfall more widely into next week. Thats your latest weather. Welcome to bbc news im mike embley. Our top stories the bbc has evidence that women in chinas so called Re Education Camps have been systematically raped and tortured. Translation they did whatever evil their mind could think of. And they didnt spare any part of my body. The russian opposition leader, alexei navalny, is jailed for two and a half years. He says its to remove his challenge to president putin. Research suggests that a single dose of the astrazeneca Coronavirus Vaccine may lower the rate of transmission. And captain sir tom moore, the war veteran who raised tens of millions for charity during the first lockdown, has died at the age of 100