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
in beijing how do people there feel about hosting the winter olympics amidst some of the world s toughest covid restrictions? live from our studio in singapore, this is bbc news. it s newsday. it s 7am in the morning in singapore and ”pm in london, where the prime minister s office has admitted that staff at downing street gathered to wish borisjohnson a happy birthday during the first pandemic lockdown injune 2020. it s the latest in a string of revelations about parties held there or in other government departments during coronavirus restrictions. a spokesperson for mrjohnson said he d been at the gathering for less than ten minutes. mrjohnson is facing widespread public outrage and calls to resign, including from some within his own conservative party. with the latest on the prime minister s troubles, here s our political editor laura kuenssberg. what politicians want to talk about is not always the same as what the public and their fellow politicians want to know. how
Our 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. we turn next to the uk, where many covid restrictions are set to be lifted later this week. the world health organization has said the light is at the end of the tunnel for england. but doctors are cautious, not least because of the 5 million plus who remain unvaccinated. the bbc s clive myrie and his team have spent the last week inside the royal london hospital. they were given access to staff and patients and heard about the continuing pressures on britain s national health service. here s their report.
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
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