It is just after 2 30am in the morning. Now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament. Hello again and welcome to wednesday in parliament. In this program. Shared anger over food parcels sent to some of englands poorest children. So can i ask the Prime Minister, would he be happy with his kids living on that . I dont think anybody in this house is happy with the disgraceful images that we have seen of the food parcels that have been offered. Scotlands first minister tightens covid restrictions with this appeal. Please stick to the spirit and notjust to the letter of these rules. And labour says a Mental Health shake up wont tackle the root causes of ill health. Children from the poorest 20 of households are four times more likely to have serious Mental Health difficulties by the age of 11. But first, appalling. An insult to the families that have received them. The Prime Ministers verdict on food parcels sent out to pupils in england whod normally get Free School Meals. Images of the parcels and their meagre contents were revealed on social media and highlighted by the footballer and campaigner Marcus Rashford. Borisjohnson phoned rashford who plays for premier League Leaders Manchester United to agree the parcels were unacceptable and tell him they didnt meet government standards. But at Prime Ministers questions, the labour leader, sir keir starmer, sought to pin the blame on the government. We have all seen images on social media of disgraceful food parcels for children cost at about £5 each. Thats not what the government promised, its nowhere near enough. So can i ask the Prime Minister, would he be happy with his kids living on that . And if not, why is he happy for other peoples kids to do so . Well, mr speaker, i dont think anybody in this house is happy with the disgraceful images that we have seen of the food parcels that have been offered. They are appalling and an insult to the families that have received them. And im grateful, by the way, to Marcus Rashford who highlighted the issue and is doing quite an effective job by comparison, and the honourable gentleman and holding the government to account for these issues. Borisjohnson said the Company Responsible for the food parcels had apologised. But keir starmer said hed checked the current government guidance on Free School Meals. The current guidance published by the department for education, ive got it here. It sets out example parcel for one child for five days, department for Education One the foot of bread, two baked potatoes, a block of cheese, baked beans, three individual packets of yoghurt, sound familiar . Thats the image. You just called that disgraceful. The only difference i can see in this list and what the Prime Minister had described as disgraceful isa dinner of corn, and a cup of milk. So he blames others, but this is on his watch. The truth is that families come last under this government whether its exams, Free School Meals or childcare. Will the Prime Minister say he wants to be held to account, to take down this guidance by the close of play today and ensure that all of our children can get a decent meal during the pandemic . Mr speaker, the right honourable gentlemans words would be less hypocritical and absurd if it were not for the fact that. It was enough truth earlier and there results of comparisons to others, please lets keep. The discipline in this chamber and the respect for each other. I certainly expect the leadership on both parties to ensure that takes place. I or would you like to i withdraw hypocrisy, because of that . And later the Prime Ministerfaced more questions about food parcels when he appeared before senior mps at the liaison committee. I know you have seen the shocking images of half a tomato, half a corn and half a bag of tuna as part of a 10 day food parcel, and i know you said you will put this right. Why do children need to keep taking the government by surprise . Is the Prime Minister not ashamed of being schooled on feeding hungry children by Marcus Rashford . Well, i talked to Marcus Rashford today, and i think hes doing an excellent job of pointing his issues out. And i i said that to him. I think when you look at some of these images, they dont reflect the guidance, but it is a scandal and a disgrace as ive said, that some companies are trying to get away with a provision that they are offering. One of the frustrations is the use of these private contracts, and the profits made by the middlemen, when really the £5 £15 rather than this, it should be delivered to children. The government has handed out billions of pounds on failed coronavirus contracts. Testing kits that dont work, masks that dont work, parents dont have enough to feed their children. Why wont the government do this . Certainly we would not have wanted to inadvertently mislead anyone, but if the decision of the schools to decide whether or not to have vouchers or lunch packs. And clearly, as i said earlier on, a majority of the schools about 75 use the vouchers. The education secretary also had strong words about some of the food boxes telling the Education Committee hed been absolutely disgusted by the pictures hed seen. It would, he said, not be tolerated. A labour mp wanted clarification. What kind of standards are they required to meet . And what kind of steps are you taking to enforce those standards . Well, uh, you know, we are very clear in terms of the actual communal what we expect that the variety of different types of fruit and vegetables. Its about the importance of protein foods, the importance of dairy and dairy alternatives, and making sure, you know, the guidance is really, really clear. And theres no telling, you know, we should not tolerate, and we will stand absolute square behind schools and supporting schools where providers are delivering what is required. Its just not simply acceptable. But how do you do that . Iam i am sorry, secretary of state. But how do you enforce the standards . The standards are there, every contract with the school and local authority and trust should be meeting those standards. Thats an absolutely essential part of what they are meant to be delivering, and if they are not meeting the standards, then ultimately those contracts can and will be cancelled by the school, by the local authority, by the multi academny trust if theyre not delivering what they are meant to be delivering for that school and most importantly, for those children. Another labour mp asked about the impact of children who were still going to school. Since the new lockdown i am certain you are aware and by own locality i of massive additional stress i being placed on teaching staff, and management staff, | in terms of having those allocating the places that are available. Because if we are going to be successful about managing i social distancing | with the children that are allowedj to come to school, there are huge demands from parents and of course i from Vulnerable Children as well. In order to come and get those places which might be available. But it seems to me that. If we exceeded all of that demand, it would defeat the object of social distancing in the classroom and in the school context, because frankly, some schools in my area are reporting that 85 of children l the parents are asking for places because theyre key workers and have Vulnerable Children. We have to be guided by the data thats emerging in terms of the rates they are running at, the initial cut of data that we shared today. Thats running 14 . You are right to highlight there will be particular areas where there actually are close to a hospital, close to critical industry where there are much higher rates. And what we want to do is work with the Regional School commissioners, work with those as to how best we can support those schools in order to support those children. He was asked if nurseries would remain open . Was it safe for staff and children . Transmissibility among those that are the youngest are the very lowest in all of the settings. We are trying to keep the Education Sector in the early years. I believe its the right decision to make because so many decision to make because so many families really rely on that many families really rely on that nursery provision, but most that nursery provision, but most importantly, those early years most importantly, those early years are most importantly, those early years are so are you going to keep them open, guaranteed . The advice that we have had is that we can keep early years settings open and we have had theres no intention to close them and we have not seen any contrary advice to that. Thank gavin williamson. Youre watching wednesday in parliament with me, david cornock. Still to come new covid rules for scotland. Back to question time now, where borisjohnson said lockdown measures are starting to show signs of some effect, but he refused to rule out extra restrictions in england. The Prime Minister said measures were kept under constant review after keir starmer said he thought it was obvious more restrictions were needed. And isnt this the situation that every time theres a big decision to take, the Prime Minister gets there late . The next big decision is obvious, the current restrictions are not Strong Enough to control the virus. Stronger restrictions are needed. And there is no point in members opposite shaking their heads, in a week or two the Prime Minister is likely to be asking members to vote for this. So can the Prime Minister tell us, when infection rates are much higher than last march, when hospital admissions are much higher than last march, with death rates much higher than last march, why on earth are restrictions weaker than last march . Mr speaker, we keep things under constant review and we will continue to do so. And if theres any need to toughen up restrictions, which i do not rule out, mr speaker, we will of course come to this house. But perhaps as is often the case, the right honourable gentleman did not listen to my earlier answer, because i pointed out to the house that actually, the lockdown measures that we have in place in the tier 4 are starting to signs of some effect and we must take account of that too, mr speaker. Because nobody can doubt the serious damage that has been done by lockdowns to peoples Mental Health, tojobs, to livelihoods as well. Borisjohnson on covid restrictions in england. Scotlands covid restrictions are being tightened. Only shops selling essential items such as clothing, footwear, baby equipment, homeware and books would be allowed to offer click and collect. And takeaways can no longer allow customers indoors, instead must operate from a hatch or doorway. The changes are among six new rules that will come into force on saturday. The first minister ended her statement at holyrood with an appeal. Please stick to the spirit and notjust the letter of these rules. Dont think in terms of the maximum interaction you can have without breaking the rules. Please think instead of how you minimise your interactions to the bare essentials to remove as many opportunities as possible for the virus to spread. And in everything you do, assume that the virus is there with you. That either you have it or any person you are in contact with has it. And act in a way that prevents it passing between you. Im pleased the first minister will be having funding made available but for extra compensation for those told by this government what to do for covid 19 compliance, spent money making all the changes required of them are now being told that they have to do that again. On the issue of financial compensation, significant amount to them over the course of this month and the finance secretary recently set out additional payments for those in the hospitality and retail sectors, for example. Nobody welcome these new restrictions but compliance with them is necessary. And can i say especially that it really is important that employees who can work from home are allowed by their employers to work from home. The lib dem leader offered what he said was a positive suggestion. Mobile pcr testing units at supermarkets, royal mail sorting offices, police stations, schools to test the people on the front line of the pandemic with the best tests that we have got available for them. Will she agree to that . Or is she just going to stick in this rut that she has gotten herself into . First minister. Scotlands not the only country tackling this pandemic. We are the only country that is really tackling this, we are not in a rut, we are in a Global Pandemic and seeking to leave the country through. Nicola sturgeon said the government had to balance the capacity for different types of testing in a sensible way. From holyrood to the house of lords, where a minister has tried to re reassure people that no corners have been cut in developing the covid 19 vaccines. Lord callanan was responding to reports of scepticism and suspicion in some communities about the newjabs. With the vaccine being rolled out, i have been hearing messages from the black community about their mistrust around the vaccine and the lack of confidence that they have. I would like to ask her majestys government what portion of black and ethnic minorities were a part of the testing roll out trial. Let me first pay tribute to the noble lady for this shes been doing on this important subject and it is vital to point out that the vaccine has only been developed and deployed as it is been proven to be safe and effective by our independent medicines regulator. Everyone from all communities can be absolutely confident that no corners have been cut. The government is sponsoring content on social media channels, on a range of news Media Outlets to get this message out to provide information and advice onto communities in many different languages. I can tell the noble lady than in the oxford trial, the data from december 2020, 830 bame participants of a total of 9,531 took part in the trial, which isjust under 9 . Lord calla nan. Now, almost two weeks after the uk left the eus rule book, the Prime Ministers been told there are problems with the new arrangements under the trade deal he negotiated. The snps westminster leader told him scottish seafood exporters are losing upwards of £1 million in sales a day. My constituent, a producer and exporter of shellfish, after unloading a lorry of fresh seafood and a system for 35 years, his driver faced bureaucracy and delays. Brexit red tape now means that £40,000 of his fresh high quality produce, it is now lost, unable to be sold. Mr speaker, that 40,000 produce is income for over 100 localfamilies in many remote and fragile communities. Can the Prime Minister tell my constituent, where is the sea of opportunity that he and his scottish tories were promised . Prime minister. Well, mr speaker, we are putting £100 million in supporting of the uk and it is the policy of the scottish nationalist party, not just to break up the United Kingdom under their harebrained scheme but also to take scotland back into the eu and hand back control of scottish fisheries to brussels. Thereby throwing away all of those opportunities. He was also challenged over the special arrangements for Northern Ireland by the dups westminster leader who said he should consider scrapping them. The Prime Minister promised us that Northern Ireland would continue to have unfettered access to the uk internal market and yet my constituency, consumers are facing empty supermarket shelves, they cant get parcels delivered from Great Britain, Small Businesses cannot get spare parts and Raw Materials into Northern Ireland from Great Britain in steel steel importers are facing tariffs and we have many other problems all caused by the Northern Ireland protocol. So, what i and the people of Northern Ireland need to know from the Prime Minister, as leader of the United Kingdom, is what his government is going to do to address this and if you will consider invoking article 60 of the Northern Ireland protocol to resolve these issues because the trader support services is welcomed, but it is not the solution alone. We need direct Government Intervention to deal with this now. I thank the right honourable gentlemen. Effectively and in normal volumes between Great Britain and Northern Ireland, so far no lorries of been turned back. There are teething problems and what i can say and confirm to him is that if there are problems that we believe are disproportionate then we will have no hesitation in invoking article 16. A little later, sirjeffrey got to ask an urgent question on the issue. Michael gove answered this time, and he accepted there had been problems with supermarket supplies. Im pleased to say that andrew opie of the British Retail Consortium has confirmed one of the houses of select committees that the shortages have not been overcome. And as to the wider problems. We want to make sure that we are doing everything technically and administratively to ensure the smooth flow of goods but as the Prime Minister confirmed to the house earlier, if we do need to take further legal steps, we will. Labour said the disruption to trade was serious and unacceptable. We have seen the empty supermarket shelves, the lorries from Northern Ireland stuck in britain or are returning empty and the unnecessary checks on everything, from guide dogs to people moving house. These problems were foreseen time and these problems were foreseen time and and again in this house and elsewhere and im afraid that there are inevitable consequences of the shambolic preparations for the protocol and the last minute guidance given to businesses. Did he envision lorries trapped in red tape at a border he and the secretary of state claim doesnt exist . The lyrics of the businesses are facing greater uncertainty, greater burdens and promised than what is been done to help Northern Ireland tolliers and accelerate grippage. No lorries have been trapped in red tape, lorries have been able to get into Northern Ireland without let or hindrance, and that is why as i mentioned earlier, andrew opie pointed out, the supplies on supermarket shelves are as they should be. People here find it very difficult to listen to those who campaigned for brexit and then blocked every single alternative and explicitly said they do not care what the circumstances are so long as we are out of eu. Will the minister take the opportunity to confirm further disruption is not the answer and that he wont agree to the dups the protocol . Reckless calls to trigger article 16 and to end the protocol . Article 16 allows suspension if there is serious economic or trade disruption. Article 16 as part of the protocol and it is there should circumstances require it as the Prime Minister pointed out. But the dup were still unhappy. What did we do . What did we do to members on those benches over there to be screwed over by this protocol . Ask your hearts, every single one, what did we do . Because what has happened with this protocol, it has ruined trade in Northern Ireland and it is an insult to our intelligence to say thatitis a teething problem. Michael gove, accepted more needed to be done and reassured mps the government would look at specific cases as they were brought to its attention. Proposals for new Mental Health legislation have been unveiled in the commons. The consultation paper sets out plans to give people with Mental Health issues a greater say in their treatment and to stop the practice of sectioning people with learning disabilities and autism. And therell be a drive to reduce the disproportionate number of black people being detained in Mental Health units. The Mental Health act was created so that those with severe Mental Illness and present a risk to themselves or others can be detained and treated for their protection and the protection of those around them. But so much has changed since the act was put into place nearly a0 years ago. We now understand a lot more about Mental Health, Public Attitudes around Mental Health have changed significantly for the better and we now have a better understanding and practice of how we can best support people with learning disabilities and or autism. Until now, the use of powers, did not distinguish between those with Mental Illness on one hand and people with learning disabilities and or autism on the other. This is wrong. Needs are different and the law should be different too. Labour welcomed the proposals, saying that Service Users must be involved in framing the new laws. Theres a web of individuals were affected when things go wrong. Deprivation of liberty and the use of coercion can cause lasting trauma and distress and this is especially true for children and young people who find themselves in these most difficult of situations and whose voices are often not heard when decisions are being made and it is an important step that learning disabilities and autism will no longer be grounds for detention under the act and i am sure we all welcome this. She said one of the drivers of poor Mental Health was social inequality. Children from the poorest per cent of houses are more likely to have severe Mental Health difficulties by the age of 11. Compared with those from the wealthiest 20 . This will not simply be solved by Mental Health legislative changes, there must be a commitment to addressing the vast chasm of Health Inequalities across the country. A former Prime Minister initiated the Mental Health review when she was in office. I fear that the legislation may not be on the books into 2023 but those dealing of my constituents are saying there is an increasing problem of Mental Health in peoples Mental Health problems, particularly young people. The increasing level of safeguards and improving inpatient care will also require a significant recruitment drive for Mental Health services. Recenty forecasts suggest, for instance, only 71 of consultant psychiatrists will be added to the nhs workforce by 2024 against a requirement of over 1,000 to deliver the long term plan. The Health Secretary replied that he didnt recognise that figure of 71 but he said the short answer to her question was that psychiatrists and Mental Health nurses were being recruited. Well, hat was wednesday in parliament. Thank you for watching. I do hope you canjoin me at the same time tomorrow for the week in parliament with all the best bits from the commons and the lords. Until then, from me, david cornock, bye for now. Hello there. We have wet weather across many parts of the country at the moment but its notjust rain. Weve got some snow falling, too, increasingly across scotland and Northern England. We have this amber heavy snow warning from the met office. These are the main areas of concern. Therell be snow across other parts of scotland and Northern England. This is where we are expecting the heaviest snow to be. Over the hills, 20cm by late morning on thursday, and some snow to lower levels as well inland. We have seen this band of cloud on that front moving its way slowly eastward. Whilst we see milder air out towards the west, theres still cold air across northern and eastern parts of britain. Thats why were seeing the rain turning increasingly to snow, partcularly over the hills. Quite a range of temperatures early on thursday morning. That wintry mix of rain and sleet and snow continues across much of scotland and Northern England throughout thursday. Theres wetter weather in the midlands down towards the south east and we could see a bit of sleet and snow in that especially across lincolnshire for a while in the midlands. It will be cold underneath that wet weather. Temperatures 2 4 degrees. Colder still over the high ground. Much milderfor Northern Ireland and wales and the south west where it will be drier and we have some sunshine on the way for Northern Ireland. During the evening and overnight, we will find a lot of that wetter weather, that wintry mix petering out, so it does become drier by the time we get to friday morning. But we are likely to have a widespread frost and that will lead to some icy conditions as well as that covering of snow. Things are drying off because we are seeing this little ridge of High Pressure building in from the south west. The winds are going to be light across many parts of the country. So we are going to be left with probably a lot of cloud around. There may well be some quite low cloud and some fog which will be slow to lift. Probably the best of the sunshine towards North Eastern parts of scotland, probably improving towards the south west as well. Temperatures here lower than theyve been over the past 24 hours. For many parts of the country, its going to be another chilly day. A weather front sweeping across the country early into the weekend and behind that we get more on saturday, we have a spell of rain and maybe some snow over the hills, it is soon replaced by sunshine and the rest of the weekend should be sunny but its still going to be rather blustery. A very warm welcome to bbc news. My name is mike embley. Our top stories the resolution is adopted without objection, the motion to reconsider is laid upon the table. President trump is impeached for a second time. Hes formally charged with inciting insurrection after last weeks mob violence on the capitol building. He must go. 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