the practical sense, but in the fact that they have now been mps for a lot of— -- little — — little while —— little while and feel emboldened without— —— little while and feel emboldened without the webs looming over there shoulders _ without the webs looming over there shoulders. it might be time for those — shoulders. it might be time for those tactics to be reassessed by the webs. — those tactics to be reassessed by the webs, both because the public don't _ the webs, both because the public don't like — the webs, both because the public don't like that but also because they might not work any more. it is a very good — they might not work any more. it 3 a very good question. i am long in the tooth to remember the days when the tooth to remember the days when the late jeffrey the tooth to remember the days when the latejeffrey dickens used his book to, it was said, pin mps up against the wall until they flaked and promised to supportjohn major in yet another knife edge life and death vote, but in the end, you are right, the power of the whips is only whatever power mps give them by operating, and reasonably that get harder and harder when you can't see people physically and when government majorities are bigger and therefore you cannot really persuade people your vote could bring down the government.— people your vote could bring down the government. absolutely, sorry, christian wakeford _ the government. absolutely, sorry, christian wakeford - _ the government. absolutely, sorry, christian wakeford - he _ the government. absolutely, sorry, christian wakeford - he did - the government. absolutely, sorry, christian wakeford - he did not - the government. absolutely, sorry, | christian wakeford - he did not vote christian wakeford — he did not vote on the _ christian wakeford — he did not vote on the free — christian wakeford — he did not vote on the free school meals. he effectively — on the free school meals. he: effectively abstained? on the free school meals. he effectively abstained? yes. l on the free school meals. he - effectively abstained? yes. sonia, ou effectively abstained? yes. sonia, you wanted _ effectively abstained? yes. sonia, you wanted to _ effectively abstained? yes. sonia, you wanted to come back in? i - effectively abstained? yes. sonia, | you wanted to come back in? i was only going — you wanted to come back in? i was only going to _ you wanted to come back in? i was only going to chime _ you wanted to come back in? i was only going to chime in _ you wanted to come back in? i was only going to chime in and - you wanted to come back in? i was only going to chime in and say, - only going to chime in and say, yeah, i think the fact that we have got a lot of new mps who perhaps are not inculcated in the ways of westminster provides a really refreshing opportunity to rethink some of this.— refreshing opportunity to rethink some of this. _, ., ~ ~ some of this. good. a little think i noticed, some of this. good. a little think i noticed. but _ some of this. good. a little think i noticed, butjust _ some of this. good. a little think i noticed, butjust as _ some of this. good. a little think i noticed, butjust as little - some of this. good. a little think i noticed, butjust as little thing - some of this. good. a little think i noticed, butjust as little thing at. noticed, butjust as little thing at the bottom, a significant e—mail from senior officials morning martin reynolds not to hold a summer party on the 20th of may has now been obtained by these two great inquiry, so i'm not your thighs with dominic cummings —— these two great inquiry, so i'm not sure if that is with dominic cummings... that's move on to the telegraph. cost—of—living, kieran. quite an increase! this to the telegraph. cost-of-living, kieran. quite an increase! this has been called — kieran. quite an increase! this has been called by _ kieran. quite an increase! this has been called by the _ kieran. quite an increase! this has been called by the telegraph - kieran. quite an increase! this has been called by the telegraph and l been called by the telegraph and effective tax on working from home, and during _ effective tax on working from home, and during the pandemic, we have all works_ and during the pandemic, we have all works from _ and during the pandemic, we have all works from home. a lot of key workers — works from home. a lot of key workers have not been able to do that, _ workers have not been able to do that, but — workers have not been able to do that, but hybrid working, working from _ that, but hybrid working, working from home — that, but hybrid working, working from home has been proposed as the new normal, — from home has been proposed as the new normal, both for a better worklife — new normal, both for a better worklife balance, but also one of the great — worklife balance, but also one of the great advantages put forward forward _ the great advantages put forward forward is it will be cheaper because _ forward is it will be cheaper because you don't have to commute. if because you don't have to commute. if your— because you don't have to commute. if your broadband has gone not by, this estimates, £42 a year, if your energy— this estimates, £42 a year, if your energy bills — this estimates, £42 a year, if your energy bills are going up as much as we are _ energy bills are going up as much as we are expecting to go up by, suddenly, _ we are expecting to go up by, suddenly, it is difficult, more difficult — suddenly, it is difficult, more difficult for people working from honre, _ difficult for people working from home, but it isjust another added burden— home, but it isjust another added burden on— home, but it isjust another added burden on people who are already going _ burden on people who are already going to _ burden on people who are already going to be extremely stretched. the shopping _ going to be extremely stretched. the shopping has been talked about, the pricing _ shopping has been talked about, the pricing and _ shopping has been talked about, the pricing and other sectors going on. broadband — pricing and other sectors going on. broadband is something that is increasingly essential for households, and it is going to be another— households, and it is going to be another big... a lot more pressure on families— another big... a lot more pressure on families and households. and liven ou on families and households. and given you can — on families and households. fific given you can access almost on families and households. fific given you can access almost no government services now, never mind many private companies, unless you have access to the internet, it is potentially quite a big problem, isn't it, sonia was absolutely, and this -- absolutely. obviously broadband does make up a smaller part of energy bills, but they are still part. we have seen in they are still part. we have seen in the last couple of days or so data out about the fact that real wages are now falling. that's going to put added pressure, the fact that you have got the universal credit cut, the end of last year. that would have squeezed budgets for low—paid families, particularly low—paid parents, so i think if we have sort of seen the worst of the pandemic, we don't know yet, but i think everyone desperately hopes that we have, and that things are going to get better now, with covid, hopefully, another we have got anti—virals and hopefully new variants that we see will be milder, but if that does happen of the politics is going to shift quite fast and it is all going to be about the cause of the crisis of and that's something the conservatives are really going to struggle with. sonia and kieran, thank you very much. we will talk more about that just after 11:30pm. before that, it is sport and weather and off to singapore for newsday. good evening. this is your update from the bbc sport centre. liverpool are through to the league cup final. they beat arsenal at the emirates to seal their spot in the wembley showpiece event next month. katie gornall was watching. walking out at the emirates with wembley in their sights. after a goalless draw in last week's first leg, this semifinal was finally poised. at first, arsenal looked the more threatening. it's lacazette! butjurgen klopp needn't worry. diogojota was about to put liverpool in charge. he never lets liverpool down! the run was mesmerising, the finish less so. jota continued to torment arsenal in the second half, but 17—year—old kaide gordon wasn't quite on the same wavelength. it didn't matter. jota's movement for his second was so fast, even the assistant couldn't keep up. he gave offside. the technology corrected him — goal. no salah, no mane, no problem for liverpool. it would get worse for arsenal when thomas partey — hours after returning from the africa cup of nations — again departed early, and there was no way back. liverpool remain on course for a record—breaking ninth league cup, although the headlines belong to one man. katie gornall, bbc news. holders algeria are out of the africa cup of nations after losing 3—1 to ivory coast. frank kessie opened the scoring for the elephants, slotting home from close range. a headerfrom ibrahim sangare made it 2—0 before this finely taken goal from nicolas pepe put ivory coast in control. if ever there was a sign it might not be algeria's day, this was probably it — riyadh mahrez crashing his penalty against the post. they did manage a late consolation, but algeria are out. and equatorial guinea willjoin ivory coast in the knockout stages after beating ten—man sierra leone 1—0 in the other group e game. pablo ganea with the only goal of the game to send equatorial guinea through in second place. in group f, mali ensured top spot in the group with a comfortable 2—0 win against mauritania. in the other game, gambia beat tunisia 1—0 to finish second, with tunisia also advancing to the knockout stages in third. emma raducanu has revealed she was advised not to play her second round match at the australian open because of large blisters on her hand. the british number one says she's learned a lot about herself, after playing through the pain and taking her opponent danka kovinic to three sets before being knocked out. i was struggling with my hand before the match. there were some people in my team that maybe didn't want me to play, but i wanted to go out there and fight through it, see how far i could get. but i thought it was a pretty good learning experience for me. i discovered tools about me and myself and my game that i didn't know i had before, so, yeah, i can take some positives even from this match. montell douglas will become the first british woman to compete at both the summer and winter olympics, after being named in the team gb bobsleigh squad for beijing. she competed in the ioo—metres at the beijing summer games in 2008 and she'll be brakewoman in mica mcneill�*s two—woman sled, four years after she was the team's reserve in pyeongchang. douglas says she's excited to be returning to beijing. i definitely didn't expect to be giving a different sport, going to another olympics — and a winterland picks at that. honestly, the last five years of my transition have been incredible, very challenging, but i've had a great team around me, and thatjourney alone... and to go back to beijing, as you said, it's exciting. england's women have it all to do when they face australia on saturday in their second game of the multi—format ashes series, after losing the first match — a t20 in adelaide — by nine wickets. they are chasing a first ashes success since 2014 and started well. danni wyatt weighed in with 70 runs. england were 137—1 at one stage, but then tahlia mcgrath stepped in. three wickets from her swung the match in australia's favour. and mcgrath then starred with the bat, dominating the england bowlers. a partnership of 144 runs with meg lanning steered australia towards victory. mcgrath was 91 not out, lanning unbeaten on 64. i don't wish to alarm you know, alex, but i've got a slightly scary statistics, and that is because australia have the ashes already, england have to win the series outright. a test match is normally a draw in the series. if it is a draw, i surely would just need two winds and it is all over!— and it is all over! england to come back and come _ and it is all over! england to come back and come back _ and it is all over! england to come back and come back quickly. - and it is all over! england to come i back and come back quickly. another game _ back and come back quickly. another game on _ back and come back quickly. another game on saturday. they need to regroup, — game on saturday. they need to regroup, liquidate went wrong, and a pen to _ regroup, liquidate went wrong, and a pen to come — regroup, liquidate went wrong, and a pen to come back and win on saturday _ pen to come back and win on saturday. —— look at what went wrong, — saturday. —— look at what went wrong, look _ saturday. —— look at what went wrong, look to come back. staying with cricket, and south africa head coach mark boucher has been charged by the sport's national governing body with gross misconduct over allegations of racism. he was one of a number of cricket south africa employees implicated in "tentative findings" by the socialjustice and nation building commission last month. it follows allegations from boucher�*s former team—mate paul adams. jockey robbie dunne has lodged an appeal against his is—month ban from horse racing. he was banned following a hearing last month in which he was found guilty of "bullying and harassing" fellowjockey bryony frost. and scottjamieson leads the abu dhabi championship after an impressive first day. the scot had a bogey—free round of nine under par and is a shot clear of norway's victor hovland. ian poulter went round in 66, alongside fellow englishman james morrison and tyrell hatton, who is the defending champion. and that is all the sport from us. we will see you soon. hello again. thursday was a fairly chilly day, temperatures about two or three degrees below average forjanuary, but for many of us, we had sparkling blue skies for most of the day. and what a beautiful weather watcher picture this is from buttermere in cumbria. slightly less beautiful were the skies in east anglia. we had a shower stream coming down the north sea. and for norfolk and, to a degree, suffolk, quite a few showers here, but they are fading away. right now, as the winds start to change direction to more of a northwesterly, that shoves the showers over towards belgium and the netherlands. otherwise we've got clear skies for many areas. and it's a cold one for sure, temperatures at their lowest about —6, —7. southern wales, central, southern england the coldest spots. might be very cold and frosty, but it should be bright with plenty of sunshine to start the day for most of us. even this cloudier zone in the west will be prone to a few breaks during the morning, so you could see a few glimpses of sunshine for a time. cloud tends to thicken through the afternoon. could threaten an odd patch of light rain or drizzle for the western isles and highlands. 8 to 9 degrees in the west. otherwise, temperatures at 6s and 7s. now, friday night is where we keep those clear skies. again, temperatures will fall away to give us some patches of frost. it is going to be patchy rather than extensive, so not as overall cold across england and wales. and the thickest cloud across northwest scotland, temperatures about 8 overnight in stornoway. this weekend, the tendency is for the weather to turn a little bit cloudier. there will be a lot of drier weather to come. some sunny spells, but we could have a bit of frost and fog to contend with as well. essentially, as we go through the weekend, high pressure�*s still there. we're starting to get this milder air recirculating back around the high and particularly moving into northern areas of the uk, where we'll see the highest temperatures, particularly for northern scotland. saturday, mist and fog could be an issue first thing in the morning. otherwise, we've got some patchy of frost, but then we'll have some sunshine to compensate across central and eastern areas. in the west, it continues to turn milder, but that's because we've got extensive cloud, thick enough to bring some rain to western scotland, where temperatures reach i! celsius. second half of the weekend, again, we could go into sunday with some fog patches around. some of it could be quite dense, a few frost patches as well. overall, a little bit more in the way of cloud for most areas, with some mist and hill fog patches around the coasts, a bit of drizzle for western scotland, where it'll continue to be particularly mild. that's your weather. 'welcome to newsday, reporting live from singapore, i'm karishma vaswani. the headlines. new images of the russian military build—up — as the us warns an incursion into ukraine will be met with a tough response. aid planes finally arrive in tonga, after a volcanic eruption and tsunami left the country in desperate need of supplies. we'll have the latest. renewed pressure on borisjohnson — as a member of his own party accuses the government of trying to blackmail its lawmakers. and — the huge coral reef — in pristine condition, discovered by scientists deep under the sea near tahiti.