Chris krebs, for issuing statements defending the integrity of the recent elections. In a tweet, the president accused the director of the cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency of having made a highly inaccurate statement in relation to the poll. And the president has decided to halve the number of us troops in afghanistan and iraq before he leaves office. He stopped short of a threatened full withdrawal. The move has faced criticism from both republicans and democrats who fear it will damage fragile peace talks with the taliban. As fighting continues between Ethiopian Federal forces and tigrayan insurgents in the north of the country, thousands of refugees have poured over the border into neighbouring sudan. The un says they are urgently in need of food and fuel, but a Communications Blackout in the region means there is limited access. Now on bbc news, tuesday in parliament. Hello and welcome to tuesday in parliament. Coming up, matt hancock says hes proposing roving teams to deliver any Coronavirus Vaccine across even the most rural parts of england. Its a critical principle that it should be deployed according to clinical need, not according to where you live across the united kingdom. Nicola sturgeon announces a short, sharp tightening of coronavirus restrictions across parts of scotland. In this situation, it is specifically intended to have an impact in advance of christmas and the most challenging winter period. And what toll is covid taking on nhs staff . You barely finish your morning surgery by the time you start evening surgery. But first, in the last week, theres been promising news on two vaccines to combat
coronavirus one from Pfizer Biontech and now a second from moderna, thought to be 95 effective. The government has ordered millions of doses of both. At health questions, matt hancock promised theyd be available across the whole of the uk. But mps wanted to know how and how quickly theyd be distributed. What assessment has he done of the logistics necessary to deliver a vaccine to more rural areas like cornwall . Our principled approach is that we will deploy the vaccine according to clinical need in every single part of the uk and at the same time. Mr speaker, kate bingham and the Vaccine Task Force have done an amazing job in securing so many doses of vaccines as and when they become available, which will be procured by uk governments and equally available across all parts of our
united kingdom. Does my right honourable friend agree that this shows the power of all parts of uk speaking with one voice and working together for the good of ourentire union . We should take forward this vaccine and we should ensure that it is available fairly and equally across all parts of our united kingdom. Of course, it will be deployed in each of the devolved nations through the devolved nhs. And ive been working closely with my counterparts, and the nhs has been working, the four nhs organisations have been working together. But ultimately, let us hope that should a vaccine become available because we still dont have one authorised yet, but should one become available, it will be a moment at which the whole country can come together in support of making sure that those who are clinically most vulnerable will get support first wherever they live. As the house knows, i represent a vast and very
remote constituency. What worries me is the thought of the elderly and vulnerable constituents having to travel long distances to get the vaccine. We are proposing roving teams to be able to get out into Rural Communities across england, and i know that there are discussions going on between the nhs in england and in scotland who are responsible for the deployment of this vaccine, but its a critical principle that it should be deployed according to clinical need, not according to where you live across the united kingdom. A labour mp asked a Health Minister how long it would all take. It looks, mr speaker, like vaccines to be effective may have to have two injections rather than one, which doubles the number. So, can she give any view at this stage given the logistical efforts that are going in how long it will take, in her opinion, for us to be able to safely vaccinate everybody in the country . We will deploy it as fast as it is. There is a process. We have to know its safe through the regulatory framework. We then have to know that as it
arrives from the manufacturers, we can distribute it at pace. We are aiming to do that, and every sinew is being strained to make sure we can deliver as swiftly as possible. The Prime Minister is thought to be keen to return england to a tier system when the current lockdown ends. But the measures are under review after a senior government adviser said the three tier system used previously may need strengthening. Labour wanted answers. Yesterday, at his press conference, we heard that tier i has had very little effect and that the tiers must be strengthened. Can he confirm that its the governments intention to impose a tougher set of restrictions on tieri areas post this lockdown . Mr speaker, it is too early to do the analysis that the honourable gentleman requests, but, of course, we remain vigilant. Meanwhile, mps have been given an insight into the stress and fatigue faced by nhs staff during the pandemic. A leading gp told the Health Committee that doctors and nurses had not been prepared to see so much illness and death. The mps have been looking at workforce burn out in the health service. They heard first, over a slightly unreliable videolink, from a senior nurse manager who was redeployed to the frontline. I myself as the evening nurse was also redeployed, but as you know, myjob doesnt stop, i still manage staff, i still needed to continue to do myjob, but went to work in the discharge lounge discharging patients. So at one stage, i was doing a 60 70 hour week to keep the wheels on the bus, really. Ive been nursing for 43 years, im 62. I was absolutely shattered and exhausted at the end of each week. But i also felt very privileged, i have to say, that we were able to do our bit and help. So, within your practice and within the practice
of the nurse specialist, how would you describe burn out . What does that look like to you . I think its really difficult because we work on adrenaline, dont we, a lot of the time . And we just go, and we want to give, and thats why weve come into nursing, really, because we want to care and do all the right things. And i think, for me, i was tired, i was fatigued. It very much seemed like groundhog day every day. The mps then heard from the chair of the doctors union, the bma. He told them that even before the pandemic, there were already high levels of stress and anxiety. A former Health Secretary saw a way to improve things. The nhs and the government have still not published
their ten year workforce projections, which are the independent assessment of how many doctors were going to need in ten years time, how many nurses, how many ahps and so on. And ijust wondered how important is it for morale, for doctors, to know, even if we dont have enough doctors now, we are at least recruiting enough for the future . I think its vitally important that while we, you know, acknowledge the constraints of today, to know that there is a very clear plan of addressing these shortfalls. Remember, this was an experience that no doctor or nurse was prepared for, to see so much illness and death in their workplaces. I mean, to imagine being in a hospital that has no visitors. And we were doing surveys throughout the pandemic, tracker surveys, and when we asked about Mental Health, we had a huge response, with 2,000 free text responses, and doctors were describing things like the emotional
impact of having to hold a smartphone or an ipad as being the vehicle of contact between patients in their last days of life and relatives. Just imagine, you know, a whole hospital without any visitors. Nhs staff can get support through practitioner health. Its medical director explained the impact of the workload and how its changed. It is not hours worked, per se, it is the intensity of those hours that are worked. And you asked the doctor another question about his intensity. Like he, ive been in my own practice for 30 years. You barely finish your morning surgery by the time you start your evening surgery. There is no gap. My father, who was a single handed gp way back when, at the start of the nhs, used to go home, have a large lunch, half a bottle of wine, a siesta and then go back for his evening surgery. Please dont quote me on the siesta. As hes now sadly deceased, he cant be referred to the general medical counsellor. Clare gerada. Now to scotland, where the first minister announced that the toughest covid restrictions are to be introduced in ii council areas
including glasgow on friday. Scotland has a different system to england, with restrictions in levels zero to four. The toughest rules will see the closure of non essential shops, pubs, restaurants and gyms. The new restrictions will affect about 2. 3 Million People living across west and central scotland, and will remain in place until 11 december. Level four is intended to be short and sharp. And in this situation, it is specifically intended to have an impact in advance of christmas and the most challenging winter period. In the latest projections, in the documents accompanying this statement, it shows that nhs lanarkshire, Greater Glasgow and clyde and ayrshire and arran could run out of covid hospital beds in the coming weeks and that icu capacity in those areas, along with fife and forth valley, will also soon be reached. While we will hope for the best that this is not the case, we must also plan for the worst. One of the reasons we are taking the really difficult decisions we are taking today
around Greater Glasgow and clyde, lanarkshire and stirling, as far as it relates to forth valley, is to make sure that our hospitals and our icu facilities do not get to the point over the winter period where they cannot cope, and i believe this action will help to protect our health service, but all Health Boards have contingency plans in place. For icu, that involves plans to double icu capacity and then, if necessary, to treble icu capacity. Can the first minister explain to people, like those in north and south lanarkshire, what the hard data is, what the evidence is to move them up a tier at a time when the transmission rate in lanarkshire is coming down . And what assurance can she give them, and millions of others moving to level four this friday, that this time, three weeks really does mean just three weeks . He asked me for the evidence. The data for each local
authority is being published today, as he is aware. If you look at cases per 100,000 over the past seven days, the National Average is 141. In north lanarkshire, its 238. So it has stabilised and slightly decreased, but it must come down faster to deal with the biggest and most important bit of evidence that Ruth Davidson actually referred to in her question, that if we dont act now, there is a risk that hospital and icu services in nhs lanarkshire, as winter pressures kick in, would not be able to cope with covid and other winter pressures. Is the first minister sure that these sacrifices will help cut the virus . Is the first minister sure this is going to work . I am as sure as i can be in an inherently uncertain
and unpredictable situation that what we are announcing today will drive infection rates lower to the levels that we need them to be in the central belt areas. Nicola sturgeon. Youre watching tuesday in parliament with me, alicia mccarthy. The Prime Ministers chief adviser, dominic cummings, walked out of downing street for the last time on friday. His very public departure followed reports of behind the scenes rows and infighting in Boris Johnsons team. Last week also saw the resignation of one of mr cummingss close allies, the downing street director of communications, lee cain. When mps questioned the former head of the Civil Service, lord sedwill, who stood down earlier this year, they asked him what he made of recent events. These things happen from time to time, advisers come and go in government, and clearly, the Prime Minister wants to try and ensure he has the right support around him
as he navigates through the next phase. But as for the specifics and the stories ive seen in the press, i dont really have any more insight than anyone else not directly involved. So you dont think it reflected any internal tensions that you might have been aware of as cabinet secretary . I think there are always tensions and frictions within government, particularly when governments are under pressure, and weve seen that in governments of different political complexions over the years. There are often stories around advisers, particularly high profile advisers. I could think of several in the past, over the past couple of decades. And when those stories crystallize and when those advisers leave government, its a big story. Its a big story within the westminster and whitehall village. Im not sure its a big story in the rest of the country, but it is obviously a significant political story at the time, and weve seen the same with other advisers in the past. But what about mark sedwills retirement from hisjob as cabinet secretary and National Security adviser . There were rumours
he was pushed out. Now, you said that you mutually agreed to leave the cabinet secretary role with the Prime Minister. At whose instigation was that . Well, wed been discussing for some time, actually, when the appropriate moment was to separate the jobs again of cabinet secretary and National Security adviser. That was never envisaged to be a permanent arrangement, including under the last Prime Minister, when she asked me to take on the cabinet secretarys role in the tragic circumstances ofjeremy heywoods, as it turned out, fatal illness, and it was always intended that would not be a permanent arrangement. And so we were discussing it for some time. Actually, the timing, the instigation this summer that the time had probably come to do that was at my initiative, but it was really
part of an ongoing conversation with the Prime Minister. And just to be clear, because there has been some speculation about this, at no point did the Prime Minister ask me to step down. Indeed, on several occasions knowing that, actually, my personal preference would have been to step down and move onto anotherjob in Public Service at some point hed actually asked me to stay on and support him through the various key moments of his first year in office brexit, the election, the aftermath of the election, then, of course, that first acute phase of the covid crisis. Briefing against ministers, briefing against special advisers, briefing against other leading personalities involved with or in government is a regrettable feature of modern political life, and it is detrimental to good governance, whoever is at the wrong end of it. And, of course, again, its not a new phenomenon, its happened in the past. I think its new for the Civil Service to find ourselves in the firing line in quite such a personalised way. I cant imagine any of my predecessors as cabinet secretary finding themselves
being speculated about being fired with a change of Prime Minister approaching, as i was while the leadership election was still under way, and thats just, im afraid, a feature of the period that were in. Labour has called for an investigation into allegations of cronyism in government. The sunday times reported that lobbyists, employed by ministers as part of the response to coronavirus, benefited from privileged information. It would appear that the chair of portland communications, the lobbying company, George Pascoe watson who was until recently an adviser to the noble lord the minister has used the words, and i quote, the Decision Makers have told me personally, with regard to the governments intended covid restrictions in an e mail to his clients before the proposed restrictions had been publicly announced. My lords, in some places, this kind of thing can be regarded as Insider Trading
profiting from private information for your own or your companys gain. My lords, im extremely grateful for the opportunity to set the record straight from the noble baroness, because i think its worth showing the house that the e mails to which she refers were sent after George Pascoe watson left his role as an adviser to the department. And with the greatest respect to portland and its chairman, they contained nothing more than the kind of speculation you might find in any national newspaper. And so at this stage, what id like to do is to give thanks to those who have served as advisers to myself and to the department. Yesterday, former conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve described the johnson government as presiding over the disappearance of any standard of conduct in public life at the heart of government, and that the cronyism of administrative decisions had communicated to young people in particular a sense of government as corrupt. Given that, my lords, can the minister really be surprised that there was concern over the conduct of mr Pascoe Watson after hed ceased to be an adviser . Well, i always take the words and advice of former attorney general Dominic Grieve extremely seriously and i value his opinion greatly. Lord bethell. At first ministers questions in wales, Mark Drakeford faced calls for more to be done to support peoples