week in parliament. hello, and welcome to the week in parliament. going anywhere nice for your summer holidays? don't forget the paperwork. anyone who lies on the passenger locator form and tries to conceal that they have been in a country on the red list in the ten days before arrival here, will face a prison sentence of up to ten years. advice for ministers on how to resolve a brexit shellfish row? start the necessary and frequent boardings on eu vessels fishing in our exclusive economic zone to ensure they comply with uk rules. and what did she know and when? scotland's first minister under pressure. the roots of this whole issue are in complaints that came forward, not about my behaviour but about somebody else�*s behaviour. but first, tough new border measures to protect the uk from new strains of the virus. from monday, people arriving in england from covid hot spots face fines of £10,000, or evenjail, if they lie about where they've been. uk and irish residents returning from 33 so—called red list countries such as south africa and portugal, will have to stay in quarantine hotels for ten days at their own expense. besides a bill of £1750 each, they'll also be required to take two covid tests during their isolation. i make no apologies for the strength of these measures, because we're dealing with one of the strongest threats to our public health that we've faced as a nation. mr speaker, in short, we're strengthening their health protection at the border in three crucial ways — hotel quarantine for uk and irish residents who've visited a red list country in the past ten days and home quarantine for all passengers from any other country. a three test regime for all arrivals and firm enforcement of predepa rtu re tests and the passenger locator form. 0urfight against this virus has many fronts, and just as we're attacking this virus through our vaccination programme, which is protecting more people each day, we are buttressing our defences against these vital measures so we can protect the progress that we've worked together so hard to accomplish. he's announced a detailed package today but he hasn't announced comprehensive quarantine controls at the borders. so why then, when over half of countries where the south african variant has been identified, why over half of them are not on the so—called red list? and indeed, according to newspaper reports, he wanted to go further with more extensive quarantine arrangements. i want that as well. the british public want that as well. so i will work with him to make that happen though that we can strengthen our borders and fix any holes in this nation's defences. a labour mp raised fears that vaccination rates were lower among black and ethnic minority communities. it would be a tragedy - when black and minority ethnic people on the front line of the fight against - coronavirus, as health. and social care workers, if there was an increased death toll because enough wasn't - being done to encourage take—up of the vaccine. _ some conservatives were impatient. when is this policy going to end, if ever? because if the virus continues to mutate, surely the risk is going to be there forever, and so when can it be removed? of course these measures, while necessary now, are not measures that can be in place permanently. we need to replace them over time with the system of safe and free international travel. others thought the plan could have come sooner. why didn't we do this over a year ago? we are an island. if we'd done what the australians and new zealanders had done, perhaps we wouldn't have had to close our schools all this time. once we get cases down through both the measures now and then the vaccine here to keep them down, then a tough borders policy can help to keep us free domestically. matt hancock setting out the position for england. the welsh government will apply similar rules, in scotland, hotel quarantine will apply to all international arrivals, notjust from high risk countries. now, post—brexit tensions continue, this time with a row over shellfish. the environment secretary told mps that an eu ban on the export of live mussels, oysters, clams, cockles and scallops, was a devastating blow. as the uk is now outside the bloc, it's not allowed to transport the seafood to eu countries unless it's already been treated in fresh water purification plants. george eustice said the european commission had changed its view during the last few weeks. bringing an end to this traditional and valuable trade is unacceptable and i recognise that this is a devastating blow to those businesses that are reliant on the trade. while we do not agree at all with the commission's interpretation of the law, we have had to advise traders that their consignments may very well not be accepted at eu ports for now. a multi—million pound industry has ground to a halt overnight. jobs and communities are at risk. unless this is resolved, the uk shellfish industry will not survive. the snp said the government's version of brexit was to blame. the past five weeks have been an absolute nightmare for food exporting businesses. fishering businesses are facing bankruptcy, dairies can't shift their cheeses, meat was sitting rotting in lorries stuck in customs, small businesses ended mail order deliveries to northern ireland, european truckers are refusing uk loads bound for europe for fear they'll end up stuck in a lorry park in kent. the minister rejected her idea of following eu standards. there have been teething problems in these early stages as people familiarise themselves with new paperwork. it's notjust businesses, it's also border control post inspectors in france and in the netherlands, they're also on quite a steep learning curve. they are getting better, we are working with them to iron out difficulties. will the government now. guarantee to cover the costs of all necessary export facilities for welsh - businesses, like bangor mussel producers in gwynedd _ who are presently . unable to trade with their major exporters? and in the short term, our objective is to get the european union to abide by the its own laws in its own legal processes here. obviously if they refuse to do so or indeed if they decide to change the law to make things more difficult, then we will consider what steps are necessary at that point to support industry. a conservative thought it was time to up the ante. madame deputy speaker, i know my right honourable friend has tried his best, but the time has now come to show the eu that we will not surrender to their games over these shellfish exports. i call on him to start the necessary and frequent boardings on eu vessels fishing in our exclusive economic zone, to ensure they apply with uk rules. if we disrupt their fishing activities, so be it. we do, as she points out, want to see some reciprocation from the eu in terms of application of common sense and reasonableness, and we reserve our position in all of those other areas, and of course it goes without saying that any eu vessels accessing uk waters will have to abide by uk law. but of course, the tensions aren't confined to shellfish. there's the row over vaccine supplies that saw the eu briefly threaten to trigger the emergency provision in the brexit deal — article 16 — that could have seen checks introduced on the irish border. at stormont, the first minister highlighted issues with the special trading arrangements for northern ireland. i don't think there's any doubt that on any objective understanding on the operation of the protocol, it has caused huge problems for many people across northern ireland, notjust businesses, but actually citizens who are just looking for parcels to be delivered or perhaps ordering pot plants from great britain, orseeds, orwanting to travel to scotland with their dog for the weekend. i mean, there's a huge amount of problems that have arisen as a result of the protocol. so therefore, i think it's incumbent upon everybody to recognise that this is not just teething problems, but actually, there are huge problems with it and therefore they need to be addressed. speaker: alan chambers, supplementary. _ thank you, minister, forthat. are you confident, minister, that solutions will be found to deal with the problems that the protocol are currently causing all our citizens? i say this to you, mr chambers, i am an optimist. one has to be an optimist if you're going to be in politics in northern ireland otherwise you become a very bitter and twisted individual. so therefore, it is important that we try and find solutions, that's what i'm focused on and i hope that's what everybody�*s focused on as well. the optimistic arlene foster. matt hancock was back in the commons on thursday to reveal plans to reorganise the nhs in england. 0verturning many of the changes introduced by david cameron's government a few years ago. the health secretary told mps he wanted health and care services to work more closely together and set aside bureaucratic rules. matt hancock said the coronavirus pandemic had made the changes more, not less, urgent. and he said the nhs was the finest health service in the world. its extraordinary feats this past year are unsurpassed, even in its own proud history. and once again, we must support the nhs and the whole health and care system with the legislative framework fit for our times and fit for the future. a more integrated, more innovative and more responsive system, harnessing the best of modern technology and supporting the vocation and dedication of those who work in it. this white paper is the next step in that noble endeavour. labour questioned the timing. now, we're in the middle of the biggest public health crisis our nhs has ever faced. staff on the front line are exhausted and underpaid. the royal college of nurses says the nhs is on its knees. primary care and ccg staff are vaccinating and will be doing so for months ahead, including possibly delivering boosterjabs in the autumn, and today we learned that 224,000 people are waiting over 12 months for treatment, and this secretary of state thinks this is the right moment for structural reorganisation of the nhs. eight years on, we have yet - another nhs reform announcement and only yet another promise to reform social care. - with 25,000 care home deaths during this pandemic, - what will it take for _ the prime minister to make good on his promise to fix- social care, and when will the secretary of state start i the long promised cross party talks to find a solution? well, mr deputy speaker, on the contrary, this white paper is a white paper covering health and care. it covers the integration of the nhs and social care at a local level. matt hancock, again. now, the housing secretary calls it the largest ever government investment in building safety. labour say it doesn't go far enough, for many thousands of flat owners left in unsafe, unsellable homes. robertjenrick announced an extra £3.5 billion to help pay for the removal of flammable cladding from high—rise residential buildings in england. many leaseholders have been facing huge bills for fire safety improvements after the grenfell tower fire 3.5 years ago. flames at the block in west london spread via combustible cladding, killing 72 people. robertjenrick said the government's latest response was an unprecedented intervention. we've all been moved by the stories we've heard and the people that we've met, homeowners placed in difficult, sometimes impossible situations through no fault of their own. i appreciate the frustration, the worry and at times the despair that they feel. i share their anger at the errors, the omissions, the false promises and even the outright dishonesty that came before us. leaseholders in residential high—rises 18 metres or above won't pay for cladding remediation works, but those in blocks between four and six storeys will instead be offered loans. under a long—term low—interest scheme, no leaseholder will ever pay more than £50 a month towards the removal of unsafe cladding — many, far less. there'll also be a tax on future developments. labour were underwhelmed. government ministers have now promised 17 times that leaseholders will not bear the cost of fixing a problem they didn't cause. many will be listening to the housing secretary's remarks today, and the government has betrayed their promise that leaseholders wouldn't pay for the building safety crisis. as i said, 3.5 years on from grenfell, hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands can't sleep at night because their homes are unsafe. the government has chosen today to pile financial misery on them. this is an injustice. but the plan got a warmer response from the mp whose constituency includes grenfell tower. i have been calling for— a substantial and comprehensive package for cladding - remediation, so i warmly welcome this announcement, which very importantly allows funds to be deployed very . quickly and does not require task forces or legislation. 0thers warned the problems go beyond cladding. my constituents won't be reassured by what they've heard. loans for leaseholders still ain't off the table, he's avoided talking about non—cladding costs and there's still no guarantee my constituents won't be left with large associated bills for problems they didn't create, and a number of institutions are frankly profiteering from this crisis, including parts of the insurance industry and others. eye—watering premiums. my constituents are still facing the cost of non—cladding fire safety problems, waking watches and more, so when will the government accept the basic principle that cladding victims should not have to pay a penny to fix fire safety problems that are not of their making? well, actually, the government acted decisively in _ the immediate aftermath of grenfell tower. - expert opinion has| evolved over time. we brought forward this very, very substantial intervention i today, so we're working i intensively and extensively to tackle the issue, _ and i hope today's intervention will be a permanent - and lasting settlement. robertjenrick. in scotland, the row over what and when nicola sturgeon knew about allegations of sexual harassment against her predecessor, alex salmond, is dominating political life at the moment, and it certainly dominated first minister's questions at holyrood. msps are investigating the scottish government's handling of claims against alex salmond, who was cleared by a court of criminal charges. the committee has heard twice from nicola sturgeon�*s husband, the snp chief executive peter murrell, and the first minister is due to appear in the coming days. the acting tory leader focused on the women who'd complained about alex salmond's behaviour. these women were failed, they were failed by the system that was set up by her government, and while they were being failed, the first minister knew exactly what she was meeting alex salmond about and she chose not to tell her officials in advance and she chose not to keep a record. and she kept speaking to alex salmond all throughout this process, throughout this process that failed all of these women. and then she came into this chamber and she told parliament things that utterly contradicted by her own evidence and testimony. so we have failed women, taxpayers' money and a cover—up at the heart of government, and this whole affair stinks to high heaven, and someone should take responsibility for these failings. shouldn't it be you, first minister? in terms of the government, and in terms of my role as first minister, the scrutiny is right and proper, which is why i am freely subjecting myself to that scrutiny. that is right and proper. i've waited a long time to get the opportunity to do it next tuesday, and i now relish that opportunity. the roots of this whole issue are in complaints that came forward, not about my behaviour, but about somebody else's behaviour. and it was right that those were properly investigated. we know, because this is why the judicial review action collapsed in the way it did, that the government made a mistake in applying the procedure, and i deeply regret that because i think that did let down women. but any process now that is indulging conspiracy theories, without insisting that people come before the committee to substantiate those theories, in my view also lets down the women. alex salmond has so far declined to appear before the committee after it refused to publish in full his submission to it. he's accused nicola sturgeon of misleading parliament and breaking the ministerial code, a line pursued by the acting labour leader. if the first minister is found to have breached the ministerial code, will she resign? first minister. look, jackie baillie stands up here and says she's not prejudging the outcome of things in one breath, but in the next breath, she says, "we know things," before the committee has heard a single word in oral session from me, so i thinkjackie baillie should really decide whether she's open—minded, objective and impartial on this, or whether she has prejudged. 0n the ministerial code, i'm well aware of the terms of the ministerial code, probably more aware than jackie baillie is. i do not consider that i breached the ministerial code. i will make that case very, very robustly. nicola sturgeon. in wales, there was a whiff of pre—election fever to first minister's questions in the virtual senedd. the exchanges took place on the day the labour—run welsh government published its annual report, giving itself top marks. plaid cymru's leader was slightly more critical. nowhere in your report do you acknowledge your failures, the missed targets, the broken promises. you said you'd eradicate fuel poverty by 2018, you didn't. you said you'd abolish child poverty by 2020, you didn't. you said you'd cut emissions by 40% by last year, you didn't. i think people who live in wales do not share his sneering attitude to 20,000 new affordable homes here in wales. those young people who've taken part in the 100,000 additional apprenticeships would not share his view. the conservatives focused on the health service. we do know that waiting times were a problem i before the pandemic, where twice as manyl patients were waiting over a year than the rest - of the whole of england. it is really important - that we understand the level of activity that's going - on in the nhs at the moment. will you commit to publishing the activity data the welsh i government holds on procedures within the nhs here in wales? i i've set out the plan already, the first part of the plan is to get coronavirus under control. i note that for the second week in a row, neither opposition party leader wants to ask me any question about the most vital part of the health service in wales today, the outstandingly successful vaccination programme here. mark drakeford. and those elections are scheduled for may the 6th, although the senedd has passed a law that could yet see them delayed. back now to westminster for a quick round—up of events in the commons and the lords. more than 30 conservative mps voted against the government over plans to stop the uk having trade deals with countries committing genocide. amid concern about china's treatment of the mostly muslim uighur people, the government majority was slashed to 15 as mps backed a proposal to give parliament a bigger say, but the government was accused of playing parliamentary games to deny mps a vote on whether to give power to the courts to determine whether a country is committing genocide. genocide is notoriously hard to prove, with a high legal threshold. if a judge were unable to make a preliminary determination on genocide, which is highly probable, it would be a huge propaganda win for the country in question, effectively allowing that state to claim it had been cleared by the uk courts. i find it very hard to believe that if a country was investigated for genocide, that in any way would be seen as a propaganda event. it's not for us to determine how genocide... that decision is taken. the government repeatedly says it's for the courts, so we should allow the courts on the basis of evidence to come to a determination. and we should never believe that because a case may fail, that people won't put a case forward to courts. that'sjust nonsense. the trade bill now goes back to the lords, where there have been calls for team gb to boycott next year's beijing winter olympics in protest at china's record on human rights. china has apparently _ threatened the united kingdom with sanctions in response - to even considering a boycott, and therefore we can see how important the 2022. winter olympic games are to china's global reputation. - will the government be keeping any participation at these - games under close review? in terms of the participation, that will be very much a question for the olympic committee itself, the national olympic committee. what i can allude to is of course there's been no decisions made about ministerial attendance, although i would add, with recent challenges we face, there's not many decisions which have been made about ministerial attendance in various parts of the world, but i hear what the noble lady says. england's schools minister has said he's open to all ideas about how children can catch up with schooling they've missed during the pandemic. the government's appointed sir kevan collins as its education recovery commissioner, or tsar, to oversee the programme. do you have a preference of perhaps extending the school day or some holidays being curtailed or have you been thinking about these ideas, or will you leave it all to sir kevan? sir kevan will advise ministers, and then ministers will take a decision about the best approach. so i'm open to all ideas. we just have to leave no stone unturned in making sure that we can help those young people catch up from the lost education. the home office minister has rejected calls to apologise for the conditions in which asylum—seekers are living at a former army barracks. labour said the use of the napier camp in kent was a moral and public health disaster. the repurposing of disused army barracks to house asylum—seekers is proving a disaster and a disgrace. what is worse, the leaked impact assessment shows this dreadful policy was justified by wild notions that proper support and accommodation could undermine public confidence in the asylum system. in short, the home office was pandering to gutter politics. so, will the home office apologise for suggesting people in the uk oppose decent support and care for asylum—seekers and close these barracks urgently? no apology due, as ijust said, these barrack accommodation units were previously used by the brave men and women of our armed services, they were good enough for the armed services, and they are certainly more than good enough for people who have arrived in this country seeking asylum. the immigration minister chris philp. now, every week on a thursday morning, mps get the chance to ask the leader of the commons, jacob rees—mogg, for precious parliamentary time to discuss issues of vital importance in their constituency or perhaps beyond. one of the debates that has been dividing the nation this week, perhaps even more divisive than brexit has been over the years, is whether having weetabix with baked beans is an attractive serving suggestion for a healthy meal. now, we all need a little light relief in these difficult times, so may we have a debate on breakfast cereals and their contribution to a healthy diet so that we can all arrive at the shared position that with whatever it is served, weetabix is a great british breakfast cereal fully worthy of promotion. 0ther breakfast cereals are available, although they're not made in philip hollobone's constituency. jacob rees—mogg knows what he likes, and it's not baked beans for his breakfast. weetabix is absolutely splendid served with hot milk and brown sugar. though for preference for breakfast, mr speaker, you will know what i like — it's nanna's home—made marmalade on toast. jacob rees—mogg inevitably ending the week in parliament. thanks for watching. mps and peers are now on a half—term break, but they'll be back on february 22nd, when we expect to be hearing from the prime minister about the roadmap to ease lockdown in england. until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. hello. the temperatures in the isles of scilly reached ten celsius on saturday evening — the first time we've had double figures in the uk in a week. so the sun is now setting on this spell of bitterly cold weather. for all of us in the week ahead, things will be much milder. we'll notice it by day and by night. but it means the return of spells of rain on what will be quite a blustery week. already as sunday begins, milder air is nudging into western parts. for many of us, it's one last cold morning as temperatures hover close to freezing. there is a bit of wet weather moving in from the atlantic, and for scotland and northern england, there's a chance of seeing some freezing rain, rain that freezes instantly as it hits any surface and that could make things treacherously icy in some spots as we go through sunday. so, do have that in your mind if you have to make a journey. for all of us, it will be cloudy and there will be outbreaks of rain spreading eastwards as the day goes on, and it will be windy, particularly across the irish sea, east coast of northern ireland, western scotland and into the outer and inner hebrides, and we'll see gusts up to around 70 mph, so some big waves. but if you're outside, you'll notice it feeling much milder. whereas across the eastern parts, still another cold day but not quite as cold as it's been. and temperatures will continue to rise as we go through sunday night. cloud and outbreaks of rain still across parts of england and wales going into monday morning. elsewhere, some clearer spells and a few showers. these are the temperatures as we start off on monday morning. many of us didn't even reach that for a high in the past week. the air is coming from a different direction, low—pressure dominating things now. pulling in airfrom the southwest, on that flow, we will get these wet and windy weather systems at times. but this flow is from a different, warmer direction and lifting temperatures above the average for this time of year for some of us. still a bit of rain affecting parts of the eastern side of england as monday begins. some showers pushing from southwest to northeast elsewhere, but for many of us, a large part of the day will be dry. some breaks in the cloud and a few sunny spells. 13 celsius in london, nine in glasgow. it stays mild for the rest of the week. there will be further spells of rain, it will be blustery, but what a different week from last week. good morning welcome to breakfast with rogerjohnson and rachel burden. 0ur headlines today: cleared of inciting insurrection. former president donald trump is acquitted in his impeachment trial. borisjohnson comes under pressure from a group of his own mps to end covid restrictions by the end of april. rolling out to the under—705. more than a million people aged between 65 and 69 are to be given a coronavirus vaccination. it's two from two for wales. theyjust edge past scotland in a six nations thriller at murrayfield, and maintain their perfect start to the tournament. good morning. it is another cold start_ good morning. it is another cold start to — good morning. it is another cold start to the _ good morning. it is another cold start to the day and