wales and northern ireland — millions of people take part in the census. the anniversary of dr martin luther king's march from selma in alabama to the state capital in montgomery. hello and welcome if you're watching in the uk or around the world. the uk government is facing questions about whether or not people can plan for foreign holidays, especially to european destinations, over the summer. the cabinet minister, ben wallace, has insisted that the uk needs to preserve the gains of its covid—19 vaccination campaign "at all costs". more than half of all adults in the uk have now received their first coronavirus vaccine. but there is concern about the threat of imported cases, as areas of continental europe face a third wave of infections, as john mcmanus reports. it's been a record—breaking week in the uk, at least as far as covid vaccines are concerned. on friday, more than 711,000 doses were administered to the public. that means more than half of the uk's adult population have now received their firstjab. the government says the vaccination programme is a phenomenal achievement and it insists it's on track to offer jabs to all of the over—50s by mid—april. the vaccination programme is our route out of the pandemic. it protects you, and it protects those around you. for all of us they are our route out. i am delighted that so many people are coming forward and getting thejob. —— the vaccine. over the past year, the uk has suffered the highest death toll in europe. now numbers of infections and deaths are dropping. but in parts of mainland europe, the virus is reasserting its grip. in response, parts of poland and france have reintroduced partial lockdowns. preventing those different variants of covid entering the uk has led to a warning from scientists that holidays overseas this summer if we were doing better with the vaccine roll—out in the eu, it may be a different story. there has been fixed messaging. we need as many people as possible to take the vaccines as rapidly as possible so that we can get to high levels of protection rapidly, so that we can open up. which hopefully in the longer term will include travelling internationally again. it is notjust holiday—makers who want to travel. 0ne want to travel. one way of achieving that might be a traffic light system where travellers are given the green light to visit less risky countries, while others remain on red. the prime minister had to say, sorry, you cannot have a christmas you wanted. to say, you cannot have a summer holiday wanted, that will not go down well. this has been a flashpoint in the last week between the eu and the uk. concerns not only about the safety of the 0xford—astrazeneca jab but also about the supply of vaccines. comments from ursula von der leyen, that amounted to a threat, that is how it is interpreted here, that the supply of vaccines from the eu to the uk could be cut off. the uk has argued that cuts across previous assurances. again, this morning, we had the defence secretary, calling upon the european union to uphold its legal obligations, and to tone down the language a bit also. what should happen is that both the european commission and the united kingdom should live up to their obligations. the eu stands for the rule of law. we heard her say about observing international treaties. we should all abide by our contracts, we are legally obliged, both the supplier and the purchaser. i think the european commission also recognises the world is watching. what are the values of the eu which they profess? if you see this type of language being deployed by the commission, it will be counter—productive. the vaccine is a collaborative approach, astrazeneca has supply chain in europe and india. trying to build walls around this would damage both eu citizens and the united kingdom. european union leaders will meet this week and we will see if they will follow through on what has been perceived here as a threat to cut off supplies of vaccine. it is a two—way street but difficult to establish if any vaccines have been exported from the uk and in what number at this point. the entire issueis number at this point. the entire issue is crucial of course because only if you have an effectively vaccinated population can you start to lift restrictions and allow travel, which brings us with another hot topic. everyone wants to know whether they can or should book a holiday, what are the chances of international travel being allowed, and how widely, later this year. 70 dog meat is the date at which at the earliest the government has said it will be —— the 17th of may is the earliest date the government has said travel will be allowed. possible third wave of the virus in europe, and vaccine role it has been much slower. shadow foreign secretary was speaking this morning and suggested she would not be packing her suitcase any time soon. i know everyone is desperate to go on holiday but we have to proceed with caution, we cannot allow the good work to be unravelled by unlocking too quickly or by failing to secure our borders, we have seen problems with that in the past. the government is right to say we should _ the government is right to say we should be — the government is right to say we should be guided by the science. i have been troubled by the fact the prime minister privately seems to be saying to some of his rebels he is keen to get this done quickly. we need to be careful. we need to be cautious. frankly, i have not booked a foreign holiday for the summer and will not be doing so because i do not think we are there yet. we will get the answer if people will be allowed to travel, on 12th of april. let's stay with the issue of whether foreign holidays are possible this year or not. joining me now is helenjoyce, deputy foreign editor at the economist — she's been closely following the issue of vaccine passports for international travel. the government has ruled out a back sign passport. now we have talk of a traffic light system. —— a vaccine passport. they are going to have to do something along these sorts of lines because the roll—outs and countries are going so differently. some countries only have a few percent of people vaccinated, here in britain we are going quickly. that can last for years, that we have different countries at different speeds. it is not possible that we can look every body down until it owed is at the same place. you are going to have to start thinking about letting some people travel, before others. what is the kind of pressure, the demand, in the business world? a lot of people who read the economist will be involved in business in some form. they will be involved with other organisations, the academic world. how much pressure as they are on a commercial basis to get international travel started again? huge. there are countries like greece were to lose and it makes 20% of their gdp. they cannot afford to miss another entire summer if there are tutors who could come to them. the difficulty is if they are not vaccinated, who it would look after those two this? it is all very well to say the british people could turn at the there is no one to work in hotels or restaurant you have got to think, what you are going to do about that. it think, what you are going to do about that-— about that. it is all about trade-offs. _ trade—offs. some economies have been hammered. think about greece, the caribbean islands, nations where they are almost entirely dependent on international travel. lots of them are trying to find imaginative ways of handling this. settle without normal restrictions, if they have a job that allows them to work remotely. none of these are permanent solutions, none of them provide certainty. it might seem surprising to people that there is not some kind of mechanism, given there are international organisations were radiating travel, that there is not some sort of international effort under way to come up with something.- international effort under way to come up with something. there are international— come up with something. there are international efforts. _ come up with something. there are international efforts. i— come up with something. there are international efforts. i have - come up with something. there are international efforts. i have talked l international efforts. i have talked to the regulator for the international travel industry, talking about doing something global, rather like these it requirements. we have already added covid requirements. they could build something like a vaccine passport into their sister. i think something like that is coming. individual countries that think this is not the best approach. —— vaccine passport into their system. it will take years before we get to the permanent solution that you have suggested. people find it paradoxical that on the one hand the government is saying we cannot travel, we do not want to put at risk all the gains of the vaccination programme, yet only a matter of weeks ago, it was only then that any restrictions were imposed people coming into the country. imposed people coming into the count . . ,, ., , country. that is strange. it is amazinu country. that is strange. it is amazing how _ country. that is strange. it is amazing how different - country. that is strange. it is i amazing how different countries country. that is strange. it is - amazing how different countries look at the same facts and eight different decisions about how they let people in. thank you for talking to us. we will keep watching the economist website for more updates on that. the uk government has been warned its proposal to slash billions of dollars from its overseas aid budget is illegal. britain's former top prosecutor ken macdonald said the commitment to meet a un target of spending 0.7% of national income on foreign aid was enshrined in domestic law. essentially it comes down to an analysis of the existing law. the government says this allows for the target of 0.7% of national income in aid every year to be missed. what thisjudgment sees is, yes, you can't miss it inadvertently, by mistake, then come to parliament and explain why you made that mistake and what you are going to do to correct it. thisjudgment and what you are going to do to correct it. this judgment sees, what you cannot do is say we are going to miss the target in future deliberately, we are going to reduce the target down to 0.5. lord mcdonnell says the law does not give you the power to do that, you can only do that if you put new legislation through parliament. that is why what has happened is unlawful. parts of new south wales in australia have been hit by the worst flooding in a century — and the torrential rain and wind is forecast for days to come. about a thousand people in sydney have been urged to evacuate their homes — and thousands more have been told they need to prepare to leave. from sydney, phil mercer reports. in new south wales, officials had warned sydney was potentially facing a rain bomb. homes have been swamped. emergency crews have been responding to hundreds of calls for help. said's main reservoir is in the risk of flooding. —— the main reservoir in sydney is at risk of flooding. suburbs are at risk of flooding. we worry about do we escape or stay here. so what about now? we prepare my handbag and some things, ready to move. we are just inundated at the moment. the water is still rising, about one foot in the last hour. this is the worst i have seen it. last yearjust after christmas it was pretty bad as well but not this bad. lots of people might not get their houses flooded but will not get to work, the roads will be wrecked. across new south wales, australia's most populous state, residents in many low—lying areas have been told to leave. communities to the north of sydney have been badly affected. in parts of the mid and north coast regions which are experiencing a one in 100 year event there has been sustained damage to infrastructure, to how people communicate and move around. everyone in new south wales who is experiencing that fear and anxiety, that our thoughts are with you and we will get assistance to you as soon as we can. a house washed down the river by flood waters. the owners will never forget it, they were supposed to get married but the bride and groom were kept apart the floods. the wild weather has delayed the roll—out of covid vaccinations. more storms are expected in the next few days. phil mercer, bbc news, sydney. the headlines on bbc news. the uk government is facing more questions over whether or not people can plan forforeign holidays. the cabinet minister, ben wallace said summer travel abroad is looking increasingly unlikely. homes washed away in australia as heavy rain and flash floods batter the east coast, thousands of people are ordered to evacuate. uk government has been warned that its decision to slash billions of dollars from its overseas aid budget is probably illegal. details of every adult and child in england, wales and northern ireland are being collected today as part of a once—in—a—decade census. by law, everyone has to be accounted for — in order to provide the government, local authorities and other organisations with information needed for future planning. the bbc�*s home editor, mark easton, has the details. v0|ceover: the census builds a picture of your community. when you fill in yours, you help make decisions about services like local transport and healthcare. almost every decade since 1801, the uk has held a census, a detailed snapshot of our society that helps governments plan and fund the local services we need. schools, gp surgeries, roads, transport and housing. but for only the third time in its long history, part of the country will not be participating in this census day. in scotland it has been delayed for a year because of concerns the results would reflect the abnormal circumstances of the pandemic and prove less useful in the longer term. lockdown means people are not necessarily staying in their usual household, or have left the country during the health emergency. but the event goes ahead in the rest of the uk, with the justification that understanding the impact of life under covid will be vital in distributing funds where they are needed most after the pandemic is over. it's easy to complete the census online. you can do it on a computer, you can do it on a tablet, you can do it on a phone. this census, for the first time, will be conducted primarily online. 90% of households will have received a letter with a 16—digit code to access a secure website page. but paper forms are available for those who need them. the 2021 census includes one new question, counting military veterans, and extra categories on sexual orientation and gender identity. it's a legal requirement to complete or be included in the census by the end of today, although officials will go door—to—door to offer support before prosecuting those who refuse to comply with a fine of up to £1000. mark easton, bbc news. joining me is stian westlake, who is the chief executive of the royal statistical society. let as deal with today and then we can talk about a previous census exercises. the history of this is fascinating. today, what will the information be most usefulfor? the information be most useful for? the census information be most useful for? tia: census provides information be most useful for? the census provides invaluable information to help plan how many gp surgeries we need, how many schools we need, hospital coverage. it is also used by businesses, if you are planning a new supermarket, leisure centre. all of these things rely on census data to tell us where people live, how old they are, where they are. why does the census ask about people who do not live at the address that might just who do not live at the address that mightjust be staying the night? they do not need to know that figure for services provided in that area. it is a good question. the reason is, as well as knowing local details, we also need to know about population of the uk as a whole. if someone is not in their place of residence, we want to know about who is there, and where they are, so that everyone gets counted. 0n that everyone gets counted. on this question of being counted, there are some famous historic examples of people who have used the census as a political exercise. the suffragettes who smuggled herself into the house of commons and then registered herself as living in the house of commons as part of the campaign to get women the vote. but census questions also reflect the times? that is right. 0ne times? that is right. one of the things that the 0ns looks at is thinking about what questions need to be asked, making sure there are clear questions. asked, making sure there are clear cuestions. ., . , asked, making sure there are clear cuestions. ., ., , ., , questions. how are they varying the auestions questions. how are they varying the questions to — questions. how are they varying the questions to reflect _ questions. how are they varying the questions to reflect current - questions to reflect current interests?— questions to reflect current interests? ., ., ., , interests? there are not too many chances, interests? there are not too many changes. they _ interests? there are not too many changes, they changed _ interests? there are not too many changes, they changed relatively i changes, they changed relatively slowly. this year for the first time there is a question on military veterans. vetera ns. have veterans. have you served in the military before, been a reservist? that allows us to understand the background of people in the country. this is an unbroken exercise stretching back in this country for 200 plus years. how significant is it as a historical tool? anyone who is interested in genealogy knows that the census provides information about our ancestors. if you are curious about who lived in your flat or house in previous years. that is interesting. also, from a more serious point of view, it is important to know about how our population is changing, demographic structure is changing, diversity is changing. these are vital historical factors. people asking do we still need a census? it was originally conceived at the time when government kept very little information about people. now it has limitless amounts of information about where people live, where they are registered with a gp, all kinds of things. why do we need the census as a separate, possibly quite pricey exercise? this is a question _ possibly quite pricey exercise? t�*t 3 is a question that statisticians are looking at carefully. there is the question, can we use other forms of data, new technologies to create —— to collect information on a rolling basis. people are looking at ways we could replace it. it is possible in the future we might not need it. but for the time being, to make sure we have complete coverage of everyone, the 2021 census is necessary. thank you. chief executive of... i give up. it is a pleasure to speak to you. thank you so much. you know who he is. today is the anniversary of civil rights leader dr martin luther king's march from selma in alabama to the state capital in montgomery. after four days marching, the group of 25,000 protestors reached the capitol steps. it resulted in the voting rights act — which secured the right to vote for millions of black americans. the march has inspired human rights activists around the world, and was the focus of the oscar winning film selma in 2014. i spoke to jason arday, who's race and sociology professor at durham university, he told me why this moment was critical to the civil rights movement in america. thinking about the importance of this particular legislation, we have history to tell us the rights of black americans, in terms of being able to vote, have the same rights as their white counterparts. the importance of this particular bill being passed was one of the early dismantling is of a really abhorrent slavery past, which incarcerated a lot of black afro—americans, and to rethink about what that means as we move forward, then, the next 30, a0 years, the impact on american political culture. we only need to be reminded of that by events last year, the events of black lives matter. and also the election of president barack 0bama. this is not an argument that has gone away. it this is not an argument that has gone away-— gone away. it is down to accessibility. _ gone away. it is down to accessibility. racism - gone away. it is down to | accessibility. racism that gone away. it is down to - accessibility. racism that exists within a us context. the lack of intervention, the last 70 or 80 years to disrupt those processes. when we had that seminal moment when president 0bama took his presidency, that was a huge turning point in american particle history, not only for the obvious reason that he was the first black american president, but more than that, it was the first time black people had agency in the voting process, the vote was counted, it was made accessible, opportunities and options were provided for black citizens to be part of an elected political process. more than a thousand people have been allowed to ignore lockdown and social distancing restrictions to attend a music festival in the netherlands. the two—day event is part of an experiment by the government and the events industry to try to work out if large crowds can gather without increasing the rate of infection. at a time when there are restrictions on travel for most of us, wales has found itself welcoming an unexpected visitor. a giant walrus has been spotted in pembrokeshire, thousands of miles from its home in the arctic circle. it is thought the animal may have been the same one that was spotted off the coast of county kerry in ireland last week. biologists believe there's a chance it fell asleep on an iceberg and was then carried south. can you imagine the shock when that walrus woke cap to find itself in wales? —— woke up to find itself in wales. now it's time for a look at the weather with matt taylor. more cloud to the north and west of scotland, taking a while to brighten up scotland, taking a while to brighten up in parts of the south—west and the channel islands. cloud amounts will vary. longerspells the channel islands. cloud amounts will vary. longer spells of sunshine in central and southern scotland and parts of cumbria. expect another chilly day to return across parts of east anglia and kent. chilly are also across parts of north—east england, eastern scotland, compared with yesterday. this evening and overnight, clouds will remain in place across scotland. clear skies elsewhere across parts of england, wales, southern scotland. there is a chance of frost into monday. monday and tuesday, most places will continue with the drive theme. turning windy. hello this is bbc news. the headlines: the uk government is facing more questions over whether or not people can plan forforeign holidays. the cabinet minister, ben wallace said summer travel abroad is looking increasingly unlikely. i think it would be premature to do that. it would be potentially risky. we are seeing growing variants and i think we have done a huge amount of work with taxpayers, nhs staff, my constituency has been in lockdown is september and i don't want to throw that away. september and i don't want to throw that away. homes washed away in australia as heavy rain and flash floods batter the east coast, thousands of people are ordered to evacuate. uk government has been warned that its decision to slash billions of dollars from its overseas aid budget is illegal. a snapshot of life in england, wales and northern ireland — millions of people are to take part in a once—in—a—decade census. the anniversary of dr martin luther king's march from selma in alabama to the state capital in montgomery. now it's time for dateline with geeta guru murthy. hello, and welcome to dateline london — the programme which brings together international correspondents filing from the uk with the best of bbc expertise. i'm geeta guru—murthy. this week, we ask what is britain's role in the world? with a huge moment of change as we battle a global pandemic, and brexit has become real, there is renewed interest in what the uk's international future looks like. a new government report, called global britain, focuses on the indo—pacific — suggesting closer ties with india, japan and australia. what does this mean for the relationship with china? a question faced at the moment by president biden. meanwhile, nations all over the world continue to grapple with their vaccination programmes. what do the diplomatic skirmishes over covid tell us about where power lies today? with me are isobel hilton, founder of china dialogue, jeffrey koffman, a us—canadian journalist and formerly war correspondent for abc news, and the bbc�*s chief international correspondent, lyse doucet. welcome, and thanks so much forjoining me today. borisjohnson launched a new foreign policy direction, global britain — the integrated review this week. it was driven by professorjohn bew, a historian known across the political landscape here and author of a much—read

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