and up until the last minute, literally the last hour before the vote, the prime minister was sitting with them trying to convince them he obviously wasn t able to. and what is politics without the power of persuasion? if boris johnson can t convince his own party, his own mps for the measures he desperately needs, that s an issue. explain to viewers around the world who might be scratching their heads as to why members of his own party won t support covid passports that we re seeing right across europe. well, i mean, for these conservative mps, and it is important to separate these two issues. these mps see the step as too far for government, an authoritarian move, cushing civil liberties. it is unbritish, untraditional, something that shouldn t happen in this country. you speak to health experts, doctors and nurses, they say the measures are absolutely necessary. omicron is on the rise at a phenomenal rate and a risk to
ovechkimicron represents 22 in europe, we ve seen it become the dominant variant in the capital in the next 48 hours. let s get more on the story. joining me now in london is salma abdelaziz. we talk about the science and what they said yesterday. let s focus on the politics and what s happening today. this is really the prime minister s full test of his authority since all these crises that we ve seen unfold. will he get the votes needed within his own party, first of all? that s the question, isa. you have dozens of conservative mps, dozens of back ventures who say they re going to vote against the prime minister, against their own party. that s because they are upset that some of these covid measures, particularly that health pass, the nhs passed, they feel that s cushing civil liberties, these mps. they say it s not something they