and now on bbc news, a look back at tuesday in parliament. hello again and welcome to tuesday in parliament. the man appointed to help children catch up with lost lessons marks the government s homework. we know that our country s responding in a way, compared with some others, which, quite frankly, is a bit feeble. questions to answer. labour ask if ministers broke the rules on emails. it isn t the original scandal that gets people into the most trouble. it s the attempt to cover up, actually, the chance that there might be one. also in this programme, the speaker s patience with the government is wearing thin. again. it would be better for all- concerned if the government simply followed its own i ministerial code and made important announcements to this house. but first, there s been a sharp rise in the number of pupils sent home from school in england because of covid. the latest official figures showed that more than 375,000 pupils that s about one in 20 were out o
i will be back. now, it is time for wednesday and the parliament. hello again, and welcome to wednesday in parliament. why are so many rape victims failed by the system? to all the victims of rape and sexual violence, all the victims and survivors, of course i say sorry for the trauma that they have been through. opposition mps demand a date for the government s long awaited social care plans. the time for excuses is over. when will the government deliver? also in this programme: soon, we ll be ship building. it s not a new royal yacht, l it s a new national flagship. in my book, that s a. laughter i think that s - a very good thing. but first: the prime minister has denied that budget cuts are to blame for a dramatic fall in rape prosecutions in england and wales. his denial comes only days after the justice secretary admitted cuts were self evidently a factor, as robert buckland announced plans for a system and culture change . borisjohnson did apologise to rape victims
millions of voters in england, scotland and wales are preparing to head to the polls tomorrow for the biggest set of elections in nearly 50 years. many have been postponed from last year, due to the pandemic. on the final day of campaigning, lets take a look at what s at stake. in england, 4,650 council seats are being contested across 143 local authorities. 13 directly elected mayors are being sought, including in the capital, where 25 seats are also up for grabs in the london assembly. elsewhere, all eyes will be on hartlepool, where there s also a parliamentary by election to choose a new mp for the town. meanwhile, voters in scotland will elect 129 members of the scottish parliament. 60 members of the senedd will be elected by voters in wales. people there will also have the chance to select new police and crime commissioners. a total of 39 will be elected across england and wales. clive myrie is at holyrood for us this morning. i think there are going to be some fascinat
unlike the italian man who didn t go to work for 15 years but got full pay, we have come back to work! and we have been here! oh, yeah! we have just not been doing this. we have just not been doing this, and now we are! which is great. terrific, isn t it? i was trying to think what productive use i had made of my thursday evenings, and i can t really account for it. laughter. all those wild nights out on a thursday night? speak for yourself, chris! blimey! but it is very nice to be here. and it s great that you re back for this edition of newscast. newscast. newscast from the bbc. hello, it s adam in the studio. and laura in the studio, two metres apart. and chris, down in the corridor, glad to be back in the socially distanced lair of news. and to help us celebrate our return to television, we have a special guest. it s sir alan duncan, former foreign office minister, former mp and now diarist. chuckling. welcome, sir alan. thank you! chris, have you got the book in the cupb
of. on this saturday, tonight, emergency covid aid is pouring into india for around the world. the first shipments of supplies from france left paris today as supplies from the u.s., germany, the uae and others began to arrive. the aid comes as india struggles with and suffers under a second wave of coronavirus infections. the death toll is now more than 211,000. and today, the country reported more than 400,000 new infections, shattering the global record. hospital beds are in short supply, the same goes for medicine and oxygen. and many parts of india, covid patients are flocking to makeshift tents for care. cnn s sam kylie reports. reporter: a sensor reveals dangerously low levels of o oxygen. stifled by covid-19, this canister of gas buys this patient time. all of these patients arrived barely able to breathe. this isn t a medical clinic it s a tent. on the outskirts of india s capital run by volunteers. without the initiative being shown by these volunteers from, wh