at number two or three minister in a huge department, the government can be quite a frustrating business. does that offer any defence against what lord agnew was saying today? in what lord agnew was saying today? in a sense, the treasury has a defence, which was that this was a global pandemic pretty much unprecedented, and they had to get these loans out — all the support that went through the income taxes and furlough out at fast speed, and obviously the checks weren't going to be as good as they would like them to be. but i think that you are right, often people with policy ambition come into government and find, as dominic cummings did, that the mechanisms of government, the civil servants just aren't quite set up to be as responsive as they would want to. but it's much easier to diagnose a problem then it is to actually do the patient work of resolving the problems. i think it's a shame in a way that lord agnew has resigned, and wonder if other ministers have shared his fear. i remember when ben wallace, now the secretary... was talking about fraud and the way it supports organised crime, and his efforts to take it seriously when he was at the home office. i think what you have to do as a minister is find a network of people across that you can work with. it's clear that, whether through his own fault or simply because the government is distracted — or i think is right, the governmentjust does not understand the seriousness of a set of crimes which are absolutely growing exponentially, but working out exactly how to operate and change the system of the government is the real neck, and i certainly think that thinking people don't necessarily know how to do it. it’ii necessarily know how to do it. it'll be interesting to see if he does any interviews in the next few days and, if he's asked what sort of conversations he had with the chancellor, when he felt that johnson was also not very interested, or if he ever got the chance. it'll be interesting to learn more about that. claire, take us to the front of the independent. " islamaphobia review ignored." another headline that will have government plunged into crisis tonight — government plunged into crisis tonight. this is an imam appointed try tonight. this is an imam appointed tiy the _ tonight. this is an imam appointed by the government in 20s and 19 to come _ by the government in 20s and 19 to come up _ by the government in 20s and 19 to come up with an official definition of islamaphobia, and he saying that in that— of islamaphobia, and he saying that in that two—year period where we've been _ in that two—year period where we've been going — in that two—year period where we've been going through a pandemic, but in that— been going through a pandemic, but in that two—year period, he's had no meaningful— in that two—year period, he's had no meaningful engagement with ministers whatsoever —— 2019. his letters have gone _ whatsoever —— 2019. his letters have gone unanswered, there's been no progress _ gone unanswered, there's been no progress at — gone unanswered, there's been no progress at all aside from that initial— progress at all aside from that initial announcement. progress at all aside from that initialannouncement. he is no catting — initialannouncement. he is no calling them out publicly saying there _ calling them out publicly saying there is — calling them out publicly saying there is no political will to come up there is no political will to come up with— there is no political will to come up with this definition. it comes right— up with this definition. it comes right on— up with this definition. it comes right on the back of the embarrassment of the government yesterday— embarrassment of the government yesterday with the allegations that she was— yesterday with the allegations that she was let go in february 2020 reshuffle, — she was let go in february 2020 reshuffle, allegedly because of her muslim _ reshuffle, allegedly because of her muslim background and that she spoke to the _ muslim background and that she spoke to the prime minister about it and she claimed that her allegations were effectively dismissed and ignored — were effectively dismissed and ignored. and that has already led to two of— ignored. and that has already led to two of the _ ignored. and that has already led to two of the prime minister cosmic cabinet _ two of the prime minister cosmic cabinet members calling for a probe into this, _ cabinet members calling for a probe into this, it's been taken very seriously _ into this, it's been taken very seriously. but this story coming less than— seriously. but this story coming less than 24 hours after that one is incredibly— less than 24 hours after that one is incredibly embarrassing for the government saw what we have a minute left, government saw what we have a minute teft, what _ government saw what we have a minute left, what are your thoughts? it�*s left, what are your thoughts? it's trul left, what are your thoughts? it�*s truly extraordinary! i don't like the word islamaphobia, type prefer to use anti—muslim hatred, i think it expresses the meaning of the word more effectively. but nevertheless, reasonable people like to use the word islamaphobia and i think it's a usable part of our discourse. you have to assume the government thinks that because they set up this review. once you've done that, what could possibly possess you to then ignore it? if you think it's important, take it seriously. if you don't, if you think there's another approach to people who might be perceived to be muslim, make that case. but to just sort of ignore somebody appointed — again, it's not just malicious or a failure, it's also extraordinary political incompetence to allow things to format like this when you know in the conservative party that they have this weak spot of lots of people are very concerned about the tolerance of conservative members and voters around muslims dashed from it. this is yet another self—inflicted wound. from it. this is yet another self-inflicted wound. ~ , ., ,., self-inflicted wound. think you both very much. — self-inflicted wound. think you both very much. we _ self-inflicted wound. think you both very much, we will— self-inflicted wound. think you both very much, we will see _ self-inflicted wound. think you both very much, we will see you - self-inflicted wound. think you both very much, we will see you again i self-inflicted wound. think you both very much, we will see you again at| very much, we will see you again at 11:30pm. i couldn't help but thinking when polly mentioned people follow on their swords and downing street, what the late jeremy thorpe had to say where he said, "greater love hath no friend than to lay down his friends for a party." we'll be back at 11:30pm. hello, and thanks forjoining us. i'm marc edwards. watford have sacked their head coach, claudio ranieri, after 14 games and less than four months in charge. a run ofjust seven points since his appointment on 4 october, which culminated in 3—0 home loss to relegation rivals norwich on friday. that defeat saw them drop into the bottom three with 18 matches left, prompting ranieri's departure. the italian, who famously guided leicester city to the premier league title in 2016, managed just two wins in his time in charge at vicarage road. his dismissal means watford are now searching for their third permanent head coach of the season. they take on bottom club burnley on sunday. in the past, we've had unknown names from abroad and some better—known names, people like nigel pearson. but yes, it's the 15th managerial appointment since the family took overin appointment since the family took over in 2012 — and of the last 11 watford managers, only one has been in charge for 50 games. one manager not going anywhere is brentford's thomas frank, who has extended his contract at the club until 2025. the dane, who took over as brentford manager in 2018, led the club to promotion to the premier league last season — ending a 74—year wait for top flight football. blackburn are up to second place in the championship, after beating middlesbrough at ewood park. sam gallagher pounced on a mistake in the boro defence to score the only goal of the game. blackburn have now won eight out of their last ten games. hosts cameroon are through to the quarterfinals of the africa cup of nations, after narrowly seeing off tournament debutants comoros 2—1. goals from karl toko ekambi and vincent aboubakar, his sixth of tournament, put cameroon in a comfortable position against a side that had a left—back in goal due to covid cases. but comoros did salvage some pride — a goal of the tournament contender from youssouf m'changama, ensuring that the minnows go home with their heads held high. and cameroon will face gambia in the quarterfinals, after they beat guinea 1—0. musa barrow with the only goal of the game for the scorpions. derby county's administrators are expected to hold talks with the english football league tomorrow. it follows "positive developments" over the championship side's future, with the wealthy us—based binnie family submitting a bid in the region of £28 million to buy the club on friday. let's take you to the australian open, where day nine is about to begin — rafael nadal among the star acts on show in the coming hours. daniil medvedev is into the last eight, after taking more than three—and—a—half hours to beat maxime cressy in four sets. stefanos tsitsipas was also put through the mill — he twice came from a set down to beat taylor fritz, who produced some stunning shots. tsitsipas has reached the semi—finals in melbourne twice and was a runner—up at roland garros last year, but he's still on the hunt for a first grand slam title. the crowd absolutely loved it — tsitsipas said the atmosphere was "overwhelming" — he meets jannik sinner next. in the women's draw, kaia kanepi has knocked out second seed aryna sabalenka in a final—set tie—break. it was one set all and 8—7 in the third, when kanepi edged in front — she thought the match was over and celebrated early — but needed another point. luckily her blushes were spared, taking the match to go through to a first australian open quarterfinal at the age of 36. france's alize cornet has made the quarterfinals of a major, at the 63rd time of asking. and she did it by knocking out two—time grand slam winner and 14th seed simona halep, admitting that she may have had some assistance. i had a little birthday present, i had a cake from the tournament. the cheesecake was amazing. i think that is why i had so much energy. that's why you won! i had so much cheesecake. i have energy for weeks now! and in rugby union, george ford has been handed a chance to revive his international career — he's been draughted in to replace injured captain owen farrell in england's six nations squad. with farrell out of the opener against scotland, head coach eddiejones will turn to ford after leaving him out of the initial 36—man squad. despite his outstanding club form, ford has been overlooked since the autumn with marcus smith starring at number ten. to boxing — and anthonyjoshua says he has not signed a £15 million contract to step aside from his rematch with oleksandr usyk, so the ukrainian can fight tyson fury in an undisputed heavyweight bout. tyson fury will face either oleksandr usyk in a fight for the undisputed heavyweight title next, or defend his wbc crown against mandatory challenger dillian whyte. fury�*s promoters have been pushing for whyte to agree terms, but simultaneously speaking to anthonyjoshua's team about stepping aside so fury can fight usyk next. team gb have named their 50th and final memberfor the winter olympics. ellia smeding will be the first female long track speed skater to represent britain for 42 years at beijing 2022. smeding called it a "dream come true" and will race in the 1,000m and 1500m, having recently set new national records in three distances in december. the games start on 4 february. and that's all the sport for now. from me, marc edwards, and the rest of the team, bye—bye. hello there. tuesday promises more of the mostly dry but rather cloudy weather we've become so used to of late. high pressure still firmly in charge, keeping us mainly dry but trapping extensive cloud. some mist and fog patches around through the morning as well. the fog should tend to lift, i think, as the day wears on, but the gray skies will cling on across many parts of england and wales. a better chance of seeing some sunshine through northern ireland and scotland, although we will see some patchy rain pushing into the far northwest. the breeze strengthening across the northern half of the uk, temperatures 8—9 celsius in northwestern areas, maybe just 3—4 where you get stuck under cloud down towards the southeast. now, as we move through tuesday night into wednesday, our big sheet of cloud will tend to retreat southwards. we'll see another band of cloud, a very weak weather front, moving a little further south. some clear spells. temperatures, ithink, typically holding just above freezing. could be a few pockets of frost here and there. as we look further ahead into wednesday and thursday, it does turn a little bit milder. we will see more in the way of sunshine as well, but some outbreaks of rain, especially in the north and west. welcome to newsday. reporting live from singapore, i'm mariko oi. the headlines: new party problems for borisjohnson. now, it's revealed staff gathered to wish him a happy birthday during the lockdown ofjune 2020. as russia continues to mass troops on the ukraine border, the pentagon puts thousands of us troops on standby for a potential deployment to eastern europe. a coup in burkina faso. the country's army removes the president, closes the borders and suspended the constitution. so exciting! really? and assessing the temperature in beijing — how do people there feel about hosting the winter olympics amidst some