Matt Hancock has hit back at Dominic Cummings after his extraordinary attack on the Department of Health, in which he said the "obviously disastrous" handling of the pandemic showed it was "just a smoking ruin".
The Health Secretary insisted the vaccine rollout had been a "team effort" between his department, the vaccine taskforce and the NHS, just hours after Mr Cummings said it was "no coincidence" responsibility for jabs had been taken from him by the Prime Minister.
Speaking at a Downing Street press conference, Mr Hancock dodged criticism of his department's PPE procurement at the beginning of the pandemic but said there was an "positive esprit de corps" among officials delivering vaccinations.
"The vaccine rollout has been a huge team effort," he said.
Earlier on Wednesday Mr Cummings, formerly Boris Johnson's chief Downing Street adviser, delivered a series of devastating body blows to a number of Whitehall departments and, by extension, senior Cabinet ministers.
"In spring 2020 you had a situation where the Department of Health was just a smoking ruin in terms of procurement and PPE and all of that," Mr Cummings said.
He added that the vaccine programme had been removed from Mr Hancock's aegis because he had dealt so poorly with the early challenges of the virus, described the Department for Education as "parochial" and "unwilling to learn" and the Treasury as "driving everyone completely insane".
Labour said the former No10 aide's comments were a "clear admission of fundamental mistakes" by the Government.
Follow the latest updates below.
05:47 PM
Matt Hancock: Lockdown roadmap will not be accelerated
Mr Hancock is asked whether the dates in the lockdown roadmap are "set in stone are the earliest possible dates".
He replies that they are, and the roadmap is a "cautious but irreversible path".
05:43 PM
Professor Van-Tam: Lessons will be learned from the pandemic, but not yet
A Guardian reporter asks Mr Hancock whether now is the time for a public inquiry into the Government's handling of coronavirus.
Mr Hancock says "there are being lessons learned all the time," but does not address the suggestion that the Department of Health could not withstand additional public scrutiny during the pandemic.
Professor Van-Tam says the timing of public inquiries is "entirely a matter for ministers and politicians - it is not a matter for physicians".
"Would a public inquiry be an unwelcome distraction for me personally? [...] I think it would be. Would lookng back on what you did and whether you could do things better a function of medicine? Yes it is. Will lessons be learned in due course? I am sure lessons will emerge."
05:40 PM
Matt Hancock: 'Lumpy' supply is 'par for the course'
Jason Groves from the Daily Mail says Mr Hancock has "skated over" the issue of vaccine supply, but it looks like a "big deal". He asks why people in the 40s should have to wait for a jab while older people in their 50s are "strongarmed" into taking it when they have refused.
Mr Hancock replies: "We are on course to deliver the offer that everybody who is aged 50 and above will be able to get vaccinated by April 15.
"These supply schedules have been moved up and down throughout this rollout. It is par for the course."
He adds: "I can assure readers of the Daily Mail there is enough supply."
"We are committed to all adults being able to get the jab by the end of July, and we are on track to deliver that commitment."
05:36 PM
Matt Hancock hits back at Dominic Cummings: 'The rollout is has been a team effort'
Mr Hancock is asked about comments from Dominic Cummings this morning - that the Department of Health is responsible for one of the biggest failings of the pandemic in the supply of PPE, and had nothing to do with the success of the vaccine rollout.
He replies: "The vaccine rollout has been a huge team effort."
He says the NHS, vaccine taskforce and Department of Health are all part of that team.
"Everyone involved in the vaccine rollout would agree that we all have that positive esprit de corps. And that's the best to leave it."
05:32 PM
Matt Hancock: We expect contracts of AstraZeneca jabs from the EU to be fulfilled
The Health Secretary is asked about the EU blocking vaccines leaving Europe for the UK.
He says:"On the issue of supply from the European Union...it's important to set out that the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine was produced with research funded by the UK Government - tens of millions of pounds.
"We set up the supply chain, not just here in the UK but indeed we helped set up the supply chain in the EU.
"We legally signed the contract for the delivery of the first hundred million doses for people here in the UK, as you would expect.
"We are very happy for others around the world to also manufacture it at cost."
He points out that Ursula von der Leyen has said there should not be restrictions on companies delivering on contractual responsibilities.
"We expect those contracts to be delivered on," he says.
05:28 PM
Matt Hancock: Letter warning of vaccine supply problems is 'standard'
Laura Kuenssberg from the BBC asks the Health Secretary about a new letter to vaccination centres telling them not to take any more bookings in April because of a pinch in supply of the jabs beginning in March.
He responds: "Now that we have opened up to the 50 and overs, we are going to really focus on getting the vaccine to the people who are the most vulnerable....vaccine supply is always lumpy and we regularly send out technical letters to the NHS to explain the ups and downs of the supplies in future weeks.
"What you're referring to is a standard one of those."
He repeats that the Government is on track to vaccinate everyone in groups 1-9 by mid April.
"You'll see in the letter it refers to the focus that is needed on the vulnerable groups."
05:25 PM
Matt Hancock: Vaccinated people will not get let out of lockdown sooner
Matt Hancock is asked whether vaccinated adults will be allowed to see each other indoors.
Mr Hancock says the approach is to "take the steps together" to ease lockdown.
"We have said that because we are providing the vaccine to different people at different times, the fair and right thing is to lift all the measures for all people at once."
"We have decided to take the approach where the whole country moves ahead at the same time."
05:22 PM
Professor Van-Tam: Like paracetamol, the side effects should not worry us
Professor Van-Tam compares the potential side effects of the vaccine to those of paracetamol. There may be rare side effects like there are in any drug, he says, but "we all recognise the benefits".
05:21 PM
Professor Vam-Tam: No evidence of increased risk of blood clots from AZ vaccine
Professor Van-Tam goes on to say that the European Medicines Agency does not believe that the AstraZeneca jab causes blood clots.
The EMA and the MHRA both agree that the vaccine does not cause clots, but there is "work going on behind the scenes" to prove that there is no connection between them.
"No evidence of increased risk...but a lot of evidence that the vaccine is actually saving lives," he says.
"From the enthusiasm of the patients I have vaccinated, I see the enthusiasm of the British people to push on with this.
"Vaccines don't save lives if they are in fridges. They only save lives if they are in arms."
05:19 PM
Professor Van-Tam: We must get the first cohort done properly
Professor Jonathan Van-Tam repeats the Health Secretary's thanks for NHS staff working on the vaccination programme.
He says it is important to get the first phase of the programme (groups 1-9) "done properly" before moving on to younger people.
With a classic JVT analogy, he adds: "A bit like a football game where the strikers who score the wonder goals make the headlines - actually the hard yards are done by the defenders and the defensive midfielders, tracking back, for 90 minutes and watching everybody's back."
He says the vaccination programme must also "track back" and deal properly with the groups 1-9.
05:12 PM
Matt Hancock: Vaccination programme will now fill in the gaps in the over-50s.
The vaccine programme will next focus on giving the jabs to people in groups 1-9 who have not taken up their vaccination invite, Mr Hancock says.
That will happen before the Government tackles the next group - the over-40s.
"I want to be confident that we have done everything we can to protect those most in need of protection," he says.
In a nod to news from the continent that the EU will try and block jabs leaving Europe for the UK, he says the Government will do everything it can to maintain supply manufacturers have been contracted to supply.
05:09 PM
Matt Hancock: The vaccine is working to reduce hospitalisations and deaths
The latest data shows that the vaccine reduces the chance of getting Covid by 60 per cent, of going to hospital with the disease by 80 per cent, and of dying by 85 per cent, Mr Hancock says.
"The vaccine offers protection to you and it also offers protection to those around you," he adds.
Living with someone who has had the vaccine also reduces a person's change of getting the virus by 30 per cent.
The Government is on track to offer a jab to all people in priority groups 1-9 by mid-April.
The over-50s are all eligible to book an appointment, he says.
05:06 PM
Matt Hancock: Vaccine has given 9 in 10 of the over-70s Covid antibodies
Mr Hancock says he has some "very exciting information" about the "real world implications" of the vaccination programme.
He shows a graph demonstrating the increase in the number of people who have antibodies to fight Covid-19.
90 per cent of people aged 70 and above had antibodies, as of two weeks ago.
This shows why deaths are falling so fast he says - by a third in the last week alone.
"All of this underlines how important it is that when you get the call, get the jab," he says.
05:04 PM
Matt Hancock: 25 million people have now been vaccinated
Matt Hancock says he can begin the press conference with some "fantastic news".
The vaccination programme delivered 529,119 vaccines yesterday.
100 days after the programme began, 25 million people have now been jabbed, he says.
Mr Hancock describes the rollout as "a huge team effort" and "the best project I have ever been involved in."
04:57 PM
Matt Hancock press conference at 5pm
Matt Hancock - John Sibley/PA
There is a Downing Street press conference beginning at 5pm with Matt Hancock.
Follow all the latest here and the live stream at the top of this blog.
04:32 PM
SNP is trying to 'smash apart our country', claims minister
Scotland Minister Iain Stewart has claimed the SNP's mission is "to smash apart one country, our country".
He told the Commons: "It is ripping apart our country... we are not just a family of nations, we are a nation of families."
He added that it would be "a disaster" for the SNP "to rip apart one of the most successful partnerships the world has ever seen".
Mr Stewart continued: "(SNP MP Tommy Sheppard) also let the cat out of the bag and said that the referendum might not be this year, it might be very early next year. Well, as (Douglas Ross) said, the Covid pandemic, the challenges from it, doesn't end with the flicking of a light switch."
He warned that voters would "take very badly this obsession with having a referendum within the next twelve months."
04:10 PM
Further 141 Covid deaths registered across the UK
The Government said a further 141 people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid-19 as of Wednesday, bringing the UK total to 125,831.
Separate figures published by the UK's statistics agencies for deaths where Covid-19 has been mentioned on the death certificate, together with additional data on deaths that have occurred in recent days, show there have now been 148,000 deaths involving Covid-19 in the UK.
The Government also said that, as of 9am on Wednesday, there had been a further 5,758 lab-confirmed cases in the UK.
It brings the total to 4,274,579.
04:05 PM
Peers force Domestic Abuse Bill back to the Commons
Peers have defeated on the Government in demanding that all domestic abuse victims receive protection and support regardless of status.
The House of Lords backed a cross-party change to the Domestic Abuse Bill - which Boris Johnson had championed earlier today as one of a number of measures the Government was bringing forward to tackle violence against women.
The peers voted for an amendment aimed at providing a blanket safeguard for women by 310 votes to 232, majority 78.
That means the bill will now have to return to the Commons in the process known as ping pong.
03:42 PM
Have your say: Is Dominic Cummings right to attack the Department of Health?
Dominic Cummings is not known for holding his opinions back - and his appearance before the science and technology committee today was a vintage example of his trademark bluntness.
Not only did he lay into the "nightmarish" Brussels vaccine procurement system "which has blown up so disastrously", the former chief of staff also laid into officials from the Department of Health, Education and the Treasury among others.
Mr Cummings - who also claimed his sudden exit from No 10 had in fact been planned since July - accused officials of presiding over a "smoking ruin" on PPE procurement, said the Treasury was "driving everyone completely insane" with emails and that Whitehall was "disaster zone". The Department for Education, ironically, was "unwilling to learn".
But is he fair in his assessment - or is the man who David Cameron once described as "a career psychopath" just settling scores and covering his back?
Have your say in the poll below.
03:38 PM
Pandemic has highlighted need to break reliance on Chinese goods, says Dominic Raab
The pandemic has highlighted the need for Britain to "change the way we do business" and its reliance on mass-produced Chinese goods, Dominic Raab has said.
"One of the things the pandemic showed up very clearly is the weaknesses of our supply chain model, as every country around the world queued up for PPE and other vital goods from China and a small number of other mass-producing countries," he told the US Aspen Security Forum.
But the Foreign Secretary defended the Government's focus on "constructive engagement" with China, amid criticism from Tory backbenchers.
"We don't believe we are harking back to an old Cold War mentality or paradigm," he said. "There are positives and we ought to look for the areas of constructive engagement - obviously in business and trade. Everyone is more or less doing trade with China."
03:23 PM
More than 25m people in UK have had first Covid jab
More than 25 million people in the UK have received their first dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, official figures show.
A total of 25,273,226 have been given either the Pfizer or the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, while 1,759,445 people have had their second dose.
Boris Johnson hailed the moment, saying: "This latest milestone is an incredible achievement - representing 25 million reasons to be confident for the future as we cautiously reopen society. Thank you once again to the brilliant NHS, scientists, armed forces, volunteers, and all those who’ve helped our rollout."
Matt Hancock added: "This is an extraordinary feat, coming exactly 100 days after Margaret Keenan received the first authorised jab in the whole world... We’re ahead of schedule to offer a first dose to all in these groups by the 15 April and I urge everybody eligible to come forward."
This morning Kwasi Kwarteng said half the adult population - 26.5m people - would receive their jab by the end of this week.
Vaccination rates in the UK and the EU
03:13 PM
Dominic Raab 'surprised' at EU threats on vaccine export ban
Dominic Raab has hit out at the European Commission's threat to ban exports of Covid vaccines, saying that Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen needed to explain herself.
"I think it takes some explaining because the world's watching," he said. "We've, all of us, including with our European friends, been saying throughout the pandemic, that you'd be wrong to curtail or interfere with lawfully-contracted supply.
"It also cuts across the direct assurances that we had from the Commission," the Foreign Secretary told Reuters agency, following a speech today. "We were reliably informed that they weren't aware of any plans to restrict lawfully contracted supply to the UK.
"We, like our European friends are keeping supply chains open, keeping trade and vital supplies of medical equipment and vaccines is critically important. We all been arguing for this. And we expect those assurances and legally contracted supply to be respected.
"Frankly, I'm surprised we're having this conversation. It is normally the UK and EU who team up to reject, when other countries with less democratic views than our own engage in that kind of brinkmanship."
02:44 PM
EU divided on plan for Covid vaccine passport
The European Union has set out its plan for Covid vaccine certificates that could be used by UK holidaymakers this summer.
Digital Green Certificates will be accepted as "proof" that a person has had a Covid-19 jab, received a negative test result or recovered from the virus, according to the European Commission's proposal.
They will "facilitate safe and free movement" within the EU but could also be obtained by non-EU nationals in countries from where travel to the bloc is permitted. The plan will be discussed next week during a summit of EU leaders.
However, vaccine passports are proving another contentious issue for the bloc, with Spain and Greece among those pushing for this boost to their tourist-dependent economies, while France has warned it could discriminate against the majority of people who have not been offered a vaccine.
02:40 PM
Further 433,000 Covid jabs given in England
More than 433,000 Covid vaccines were given in England yesterday, official figures show.
A total of 22,717,791 jabs have been given since the programme started on December 8, according to provisional NHS England data, including first and second doses.
That is a rise of 433,751 on the previous day.
Of this number, 21,493,356 were the first dose of a vaccine, a rise of 370,842 on the previous day, while 1,224,435 were a second dose, an increase of 62,909.
This morning Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, revealed that the Government was expecting half the adult population to have had the first jab by the weekend.
Is the UK on track to hit vaccination targets?
02:27 PM
Lobby latest: No 10 defends Department of Health following Dominic Cummings' criticism
Downing Street has insisted the Department of Health and Social Care was "central" to the vaccine programme, following Dominic Cummings' comments earlier today.
The former adviser told MPs it was "no coincidence" the vaccine taskforce had been brought under Number 10's aegis in light of the "smoking ruin" that was Matt Hancock's team.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "Covid challenged health systems around the world. From the outset, it was always our focus to protect the NHS and save lives.
"I would point to what was achieved last year in terms of establishing one of the biggest diagnostic networks in UK history, in terms of increasing the number of tests we are able to undertake every day.
"We have procured over nine million items of PPE, we have established the NHS Test and Trace system which has contacted millions of people and asked them to isolate.
"DH (Department of Health) and the NHS were central to the rollout of the vaccination programme."
02:20 PM
Lobby latest: EU urged to 'stand by its commitment' on vaccine exports
Downing Street has urged the EU to "stand by its commitment" not to restrict exports of vaccines after a threat from European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen.
The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "I would point you back to the conversation the Prime Minister had with Ursula von der Leyen earlier this year.
"She confirmed then that the focus of their mechanism was on transparency and not intended to restrict exports by companies where they are fulfilling their contractual responsibilities.
"It remains the case we would expect the EU to continue to stand by its commitment."
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen made the threat today - AFP
02:18 PM
Boris Johnson expected to get the AstraZeneca jab this week
Boris Johnson is expected to get his Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine later this week.
It was understood that the NHS told the Prime Minister he would receive that specific jab because of the public interest surrounding the vaccine, after several countries suspended their rollout because of concerns about blood clots.
But it was unclear whether Downing Street had requested Mr Johnson receives the AstraZeneca vaccine.
AstraZeneca status across Europe
02:07 PM
Dominic Cummings 'scathing' comments a 'clear admission' of failure, says Labour
Labour's shadow health secretary has seized on Dominic Cummings' comments to MPs today, saying it was "a clear admission of fundamental mistakes" that were made at the start of the pandemic.
Jon Ashworth said: “This is a scathing intervention from Boris Johnson’s former right hand man and most trusted aide.
“To describe the Department of Health and Social Care as a ‘smoking ruin’ is a clear admission of fundamental mistakes that have contributed to us tragically experiencing one of the highest death rates in the world.”
01:54 PM
Matt Hancock to lead Downing Street press conference today
Matt Hancock will lead a Downing Street press conference this afternoon, Number 10 has confirmed.
The Health Secretary is likely to be quizzed over several of the comments made by Dominic Cummings today, after the former chief adviser claimed the Department of Health was a "smoking ruin" in terms of PPE procurement, and suggested responsibility for the vaccine programme had been removed from his remit as a result.
Matt Hancock to give the 5pm press conference - Anadolu
01:48 PM
British suppliers put off trading with NI because it's 'too much hassle' since Brexit
A leading food services company has expressed concern that GB suppliers are deciding that trading in Northern Ireland is not worth the hassle of extra Brexit bureaucracy.
Andrew Lynas, managing director of Coleraine-based Lynas Foodservice, told MPs his business was faced an extra £50,000 in admin costs a year because of the protocol, and warned that the new trading rules could hamper post-Covid recovery.
"Our greatest fear is we are trying to get up off the mat again in terms of hospitality and supply chains and volume will come back hopefully and we're excited and people are going to go into restaurants and pubs and eat and drink.
"We've already changed 25 suppliers due to the realities of the Protocol," he said. "These are both small and large (suppliers) who said 'this is too much hassle and work"'.
01:40 PM
'No material risk of blood clots' from AstraZeneca jab, says Wales minister
The Welsh Health Minister has said there is no "material risk of blood clots" as a result of having the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, amid chaos on the Continent over the jab.
Vaughan Gething said: "We know that not having a vaccine leaves people vulnerable to the very real harm that coronavirus causes, including a much higher risk of having a damaging blood clot, the much higher risk of needing hospital treatment, of suffering long-term internal organ damage, the greater risk of actually losing your life.
"It's really important people listen to the evidence."
Mr Gething said he hoped the European countries that have paused the vaccine would soon "make a different choice".
"This isn't just an issue for their population, it matters to us given that Wales and Britain is a significantly interconnected country with our European neighbours," he added.
01:31 PM
Have your say: Is Dominic Cummings right to attack former colleagues?
Dominic Cummings is not known for holding his opinions back - and his appearance before the science and technology committee today was a vintage example of his trademark bluntness.
Not only did he lay into the "nightmarish" Brussels vaccine procurement system "which has blown up so disastrously", the former chief of staff also laid into officials from the Department of Health, Education and the Treasury among others.
Mr Cummings - who also claimed his sudden exit from No 10 had in fact been planned since July - accused officials of presiding over a "smoking ruin" on PPE procurement, said the Treasury was "driving everyone completely insane" with emails and that Whitehall was "disaster zone". The Department for Education, ironically, was "unwilling to learn".
But is he fair in his assessment - or is the man who David Cameron once described as "a career psychopath" just settling scores and covering his back?
Have your say in the poll below.
01:07 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson 'deeply, deeply' sorry for pandemic
Boris Johnson has said he is "deeply, deeply sorry" for what has happened to the UK during the pandemic.
Labour's Richard Burgon asked the Prime Minister "to hold up his hands and come clean with the British people and say 'those deaths are on me and for that I apologise'."
Mr Johnson replied: "Well I certainly take full responsibility for everything the Government did and of course we mourn the loss of every single coronavirus victim and we sympathise deeply with their families and their loved ones.
"Am I sorry for what has happened to our country? Yes of course I am deeply, deeply sorry.
"Of course there will be time for a full inquiry to enable us all to understand what we need to do better when we face these problems in the future and that is something I think the whole House shares."
The UK ranks highly on total deaths - but lower on excess deaths
12:53 PM
Ursula von der Leyen threatens to block vaccine exports to UK
The European Union has threatened to restrict vaccine exports to the UK to "make sure Europeans are vaccinated as soon as possible".
Ursula von der Leyen said "all options are on the table" to boost the EU's stuttering immunisation campaign, including moves to halt exports to countries which "have higher vaccination rates than us", including the UK.
The Commission President said EU leaders should consider triggering Article 122, a clause not used since the oil crisis in the 1970s. This would allow the EU to seize factories, waving intellectual property and patents and impose export bans.
"Open roads run in both directions and this is why we need to ensure that there is reciprocity and proportionality," said Ms von der Leyen, noting that the 10m doses had been exported from the EU to the UK, but none in reverse.
"I want to be clear on reciprocity. If the situation does not change, we will have to reflect on how to make exports to vaccine-producing countries dependent on their level of openness."
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen - UNPIXS
12:45 PM
PMQs: Labour MP rebuked for saying Boris Johnson is 'economical with the truth' over NHS pay
Tahir Ali has accused Boris Johnson of being "economical with the truth" about the proposed one per cent pay rise for frontline NHS staff.
The Labour MP suggested the Government could afford more than the amount put forward - earning him a rebuke from the Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle.
Boris Johnson highlighted the additional benefits that have gone into the NHS which "are leading to a big increase" in the number of nurses being hired.
He says "of course" people want to be better paid but they also want "an extra pair of hands - and that is what we are giving them".
12:39 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson 'will consider' new tax for cladding costs
Boris Johnson has said he "will consider" a new tax to pay for the cost of removing unsafe claddding.
Felicity Buchan, MP for Kensington - where Grenfell Tower is location - asked the Prime Minister to adopt "a new tax on the building products industry... as way to partly pay for cladding remeditiation."
He said the Chancellor "would want to think about that kind of idea."
"But we are looking at new rules to exclude contractors from Government business where professional negligence has been shown," he added.
12:34 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson reveals he will be getting Covid jab 'very shortly'
Steve Brine, the Conservative MP for Winchester, asks about the row in the EU over the AstraZeneca jab amid concerns it has caused blood clots.
The Prime Minister, who is aged 56, responded by saying he has been called to get his Covid jab and will have the injection “very shortly”.
He adds: "It will certainly be Oxford AstraZeneca I will be having."
12:33 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson dismisses nuclear arms question as 'veiled attempt' to raise referendum
Peter Grant, SNP's MP for Glenrothes, picks up on Ian Blackford's comments about the nuclear warheads.
Boris Johnson says this is a "veiled attempt" to raise independence "and break up the country".
He says that is not the right way forward, adding that the country needs stronger defences.
12:32 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson says 'fundamental' issue of violence against women is 'everyday sexism'
Labour MP Charlotte Nichols says she can name the men "who have hurt me" but most women cannot and asks "how women are meant to get justice".
Boris Johnson says "she speaks for many women up and down the country".
He says new laws and advisers can be brought in "but we have to address the fundamental issue of the casual, everyday sexism and apathy that fails to address the concerns of women - that is the underlying issue".
12:29 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson attacked by Caroline Lucas over anti-protest bill
Caroline Lucas attacks the Prime Minister over the anti-protest bill, saying "if the UK is to be a force for good in a world where democracy is in retreat... it needs to start at home, with the protection of the long-standing right to protest".
It is a "cornerstone of liberal democracy," the Green MP adds.
Boris Johnson says she is "quite right" to stand up for the right to protest, but says it has to be restricted during the pandemic.
He adds that a balance must be struck between peaceful protest and "free speech and vital parts of the UK economy".
12:26 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson and Ian Blackford clash over nuclear arms
Ian Blackford, the SNP Westminster leader, asks about the increase on the cap of the nuclear warheads if the Prime Minister understands that Scotland wants a leader that prioritises "bairns not bombs".
But Boris Johnson hammers him over Scotland's decline in educational standards because they are "obsessed with nothing else" but a "reckless referendum".
Again, Mr Blackford asks about the "weapons of mass destruction on our soil in Scotland".
The Prime Minister says he is "very proud" that the Government is investing record sums in defence "helping therefore driving jobs not just in Scotland but the whole of the UK".
12:22 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson urged to work together to stop violence against women
Sir Keir Starmer says there "has been agreement" on what to do about violence against women across the benches, saying it would "make a real difference" to victims if they could "come together on the points raised today".
Labour has published a 10-point plan and a victims law, as well as amendments to the sentencing bill.
"Frankly I don't care if this becomes a Government bill or Conservative legislation," he adds, as he calls on Boris Johnson to meet with him and some of his team to "really and truly make this a turning point".
The Prime Minister thanks his tone, but says he "should not misrepresent" what the sentencing bill was trying to do.
The Government will continue "doing out utmost" to accelerate "the grinding processes" which are a deterrent to victims coming forward. "Until women feel their voices are being heard... we will not fix this problem".
12:18 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson and Sir Keir Starmer clash over sentencing bill
Sir Keir Starmer then turns to sentences for rape convictions, asking if they should be toughened "urgently".
Boris Johnson says "wouldn't it be wonderful if there was a bill going through Parliament that would do exactly that... as it happens there is such a bill before the House.
"I think it would be a great thing if the right hon gentlemen had actually voted for it," he adds, noting the three-line whip not to do so was "crazy".
But the Labour leader says the bill gave a longer sentence for damaging a memorial than rape.
"I thank the PM for providing me with the best examples for why the priorioties in his bill were so wrong - nothing in that bill would have increased the length of sentence in any of those cases."
12:15 PM
PMQs: Sir Keir Starmer calls for action on rape convictions
Sir Keir Starmer asks what Boris Johnson will do about the decline in rape convictions.
The Prime Minister says they are "a disgrace in this country and we need to sort it out".
He says investment is being made into "confidence building measures" including speeding up the process of the law, and "what we can to toughen those penalties for men... who commit these crimes".
He reiterates his criticism of Labour for not having backed the sentencing bill yesterday.
Former DPP Sir Keir says "I really don't need lectures" on the law.
12:12 PM
PMQs: Sir Keir Starmer calls for 'tight timetable' on victims bill
Sir Keir Starmer says he will come to the sentencing bill, but wants to continue with the constructive approach for now.
He turns to the issue that many women do no feel they will be listened to when they make allegations.
He notes that a victims bill has been tabled and "is ready to go - all it needs to political will to act".
The Labour leader asks the PM to commit to "a tight timetable - six months or so".
Boris Johnson says the point about victims being heard is "absolutely right", adding: "It is vital that we have long-term cultural, societal change."
But he makes no commitment on a victims law - which Sir Keir picks up on, saying "we dont need another review... we just need now to get on with it".
12:09 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson attacks Labour over lack of support for anti-protest bill
Sir Keir Starmer thanks him and turns to practical solutions, noting Labour has called for stronger legislation on street harassment and stalking.
"Both are absolutely vital if we are going to make changes in the every day experiences of women and girls," he says.
Boris Johnson says he is always happy to look at new proposals, and highlights work already being carried out "to make the streets safer".
He notes the anti-protest bill last night would have done "a lot" to protect women, and it would have been good to have the support of Labour.
12:07 PM
PMQs: Sir Keir Starmer calls Sarah Everard case 'a watershed moment' for violence against women
Sir Keir Starmer begins by paying tribute to Sarah Everard, comparing her cases to those of Stephen Lawrence and Jamie Bulger, saying they are "so shocking they demand both justice and change".
This has "lifted a veil on the epidemic of violence against women and girls", he adds, saying it must be a "watershed moment", and says they should work together to achieve that.
Boris Johnson echoes his comments, saying the emotions are "shared in this House and around the country".
The reaction is "wholly justified and understandable", he adds, and the Government is trying to speed up efforts to change the law on domestic violence.
"But unless and until we have a change in our culture that understands that women do not feel they are being heard we will not fix this problem," he says.
12:04 PM
PMQs: Boris Johnson promises to help MP over GSK closures
Boris Johnson has wished everyone a happy St Patrick's Day as he begins PMQs.
The Prime Minister is asked about GSK's change in investment to pulling out of Simon Fell's Barrow and Furness constituency.
He says he will meet with Mr Fell because "bioscience is one of the great growth areas for this country".
12:00 PM
Boris Johnson about to begin PMQs
Boris Johnson is on his way to Parliament for his regular clash with Sir Keir Starmer at PMQs.
PM is on his way - AFP
11:55 AM
George Osborne backs Boris Johnson for 'seeing off the hotheads' over China
Boris Johnson should be congratulated for "seeing off the hotheads" on the Tory backbenches who want a more aggressive approach to China, former chancellor George Osborne has said.
The Prime Minister's integrated review of security, defence, development and post-Brexit foreign policy on Tuesday called for a "positive trade and investment relationship" with Beijing, but was attacked for perpetuating the "grasping naivety of the Cameron-Osborne years".
However the former chancellor told the Lords' international relations and defence committee: "China is changing and becoming more assertive, the question of how you deal with it has not changed.
"That is why I think Boris Johnson should be congratulated for seeing off the hotheads who want to launch some new Cold War with China and instead promoting an approach that is realistic about the threat that China poses."
The Government was looking "to engage with the opportunity, talks about increasing trade, talks about increasing investment from China and essentially tries to co-opt China rather than confront China and to me that was the approach back then and that is the approach today", he added.
11:45 AM
Dominic Cummings attacks 'dodgy accountancy tricks' on overseas aid and science funding
Dominic Cummings has said he did not watch the Budget this month, as he attacked "dodgy accountancy tricks" with overseas aid.
The former Number 10 aide told the science and technology committee: "I didn't watch the Budget and I don't really have any idea what was in it.... but if UKRI (UK Research and Innovation) budgets have been cut then that's obviously an extremely bad decision. I don't know why that would have happened."
He added: "Under the numbers pencilled in when I left in November, UKRI was getting very generous improvements to its core budgets, not just for this year but throughout the whole spending review period, through to 2025.
"If that's changed in the last 12 weeks then that's obviously bad and if there is dodgy accountancy tricks with ODA (Official Development Assistance) and whatnot, that's also obviously bad.
"If 2020 isn't enough of a galvanising shock to say we ought to take science and technology seriously... then I don't know what would be."
11:26 AM
Dominic Cummings claims he told PM about December departure 'back in July'
Dominic Cummings has said he made "the right decision to resign when I did".
The former No 10 aide, who left under a cloud last December, said he did not regret the manner of his departure.
"I actually said to the Prime Minister back in July that I would leave by Friday December 18 by the latest, so the whole thing was not exactly as it appeared," he added.
He promises to come back and clarify "all the crazy stories you hear in the media" when the committee would like - a far cry from his usual reticence to speak to MPs.
Mr Cummings said his apparently sudden exit from No 10 had been planned for months - Reuters
11:19 AM
Dominic Cummings used to run 'missions and moonshots' meetings during PMQs
Dominic Cummings used to run a shadow meeting with "great officials" during PMQs, to address productivity challenge through skills and training up to "missions and moonshots".
The former aide said he was closely involved in "Project Speed", a cross-departmental initiative "to try and figure out how to do this", he told the science and technology committee.
"I hope that is still going on," he said. "There was certainly a huge number of very creative ideas and Rishi [Sunak] was a great supporter of this and put the institutional weight of the Treasury behind doing it
"I hope that a lot of that work will come out in the next few months."
Dominic Cummings during his appearing before the select committee
11:13 AM
David Cameron left UK 'vulnerable' to China and Russia IP theft, says Dominic Cummings
Dominic Cummings has attacked David Cameron and George Osborne for having left the UK "vulnerable" to Russia and Chinese theft of "British knowledge".
The former adviser - who was once dubbed a 'career psychopath' by Mr Cameron - said the two states had run "extremely aggressive operations against this country top acquire British knowledge, legally and illegally, overtly and covertly.
"These countries take it deadly serious and Cameron and Osborne did not take it deadly seriously, and in all sorts of ways they left the country vulnerable," he added.
"That is one of the many areas that science and technology policy must change."
11:09 AM
Department for Education is 'parochial' and 'unwilling to learn', says Dominic Cummings
Dominic Cummings has said the Department for Education is "parochial" and "unwilling to learn", particularly from East Asia.
The former No 10 adviser - who worked with Michael Gove when he was education secretary, said: "We saw exactly the same problem in Whitehall last year in a range of subjects.
"What China and other countries are doing is making science and technology core to their policies, not the way that Britain has gone about it for the last 50 years - as an add on, what the boffins do in white coats."
He added: "That mindset has been massively damaging for the country, it means we haven't funded things properly, taking things as seriously as we should have done.
"I hope one of the lessons from 202 is to change course from that."
10:46 AM
Whitehall system will change 'in all sorts of ways' to root out bureaucracy, says Dominic Cummings
Dominic Cummings has said the Whitehall system is going to change "in all sorts of ways" to root out bureaucracy after the pandemic.
He told the science and technology committee that far from "running around trying to have culture wars with the BBC" he spent the majority of his time dealing with bureaucracy.
"Everyone has vetoes over everyone else," he added. "Almost no one has the power to say 'just stop doing this insanity'.
"It takes months and months and months of meetings to do, even when sitting in the PM's office saying 'the PM wants this to happen'," he added. "It is still incredibly hard to remove bureaucracy from the system."
It would require the Prime Minister and Chancellor to tell officials "no no no, we are actually deadly serious about this, we are not going to have a repeat of 2020", Mr Cummings said. "In all sorts of ways, the system is going to change."
Dominic Cummings speaks to MPs
10:33 AM
Aria should back 'large percentage' of projects that fail, says Dominic Cummings
The UK's new Advanced Research & Invention Agency (Aria) should back "a large percentage" of projects that fail, Dominic Cummings has said.
The agency which will have £800m of taxpayer's money to seed science and tech projects independent to the Government should be given sufficient freedom to back ideas that do not work, he told MPs.
"It has to fail and quite a large percentage shouldn't work," he said. "If that's not the case, they are not taking enough risks, not properly sampling."
Challenged about whether £800m would be sufficient for the scale of ambitions, to rival US equivalent which has $3.5bn, he said it was probably not, but stressed "freedom is much more important than money".
10:25 AM
Department of Health made 'smoking ruin' of PPE procurement, says Dominic Cummings
Dominic Cummings has said making the procurement process more bureaucratic after the pandemic would be "totally the wrong lessons to learn from this".
Asked about cronyism during Covid, he said: "We have got a procurement system that was created by the EU framework and goldplated by Whitehall".
He said he had argued "this system is an expensive disaster zone and when it hits a crisis it will completely fall over" prior to the pandemic. A less bureaucratic approach would actually be less corrupt, he said.
"Current existing systems massively reward high status well-connected people," he added.
Mr Cummings notes that the Department of Health's procurement of PPE was a "smoking ruin" and vaccine procurement had to be controlled by No 10 instead.
10:21 AM
Pandemic is 'proof' of need for weirdos and misfits, says Dominic Cummings
The pandemic has been "proof" that Dominic Cummings' call for misfits and weirdos was right, the former adviser has said.
If you don't have people with scientific backgrounds who can think rationally about "extreme certainty you can very easily have disastrous decisions," he told the science and technology committee.
Creating Aria "in the right way" would have a very positive effect on British science, he adds.
The current system is "horrific"and particularly "terrible for young people", he says.
"That's not good for British science - that's not good for the world... If you had Newton or Darwin or Turing now, turning up with their ideas aged 21, everyone would say 'you're mad."
10:14 AM
Dominic Cummings hits back at pay rise claims
Dominic Cummings has hit back at suggestions he received a pay rise amid the pandemic, saying he actually sought - and received - a pay cut.
Labour has repeatedly attacked Boris Johnson for having given him a £40,000 pay rise while nurses' pay is due to be cut in real terms.
But the former adviser told the science and technology committee: "The media reports about me getting a pay rise after Covid are wrong.
"It is true that I interfered with the pay system regarding my own pay," he added. "In summer 2019, when I arrived I was put on the normal pay band for my job, which was £140-thousand something.
"I only wanted to be paid what I got at Vote Leave - I thought I should get the same to sort out the Brexit mess, so I asked for a pay cut which is what happen in summer 2019.
"When we were rehired the day after the election I moved back onto the normal pay grade for my position."
10:07 AM
Dominic Cummings 'would say no' if asked to work on Aria
Dominic Cummings has insisted he should not be involved in Aria, now that he has left Government
"I am not seeking to be involved, I wouldn't want to be involved, I shouldn't be involved," he told the science and technology committee.
"The only way I could be of value is if you pick the wrong people - if you pick the right people, what could I possibly offer to it?"
"I know there are some rumours around that Number 10 has asked me to do it," he added. "I don't know if it is being considered but if it was suggested I would certainly say no."
Dominic Cummings before the committee
10:00 AM
Science funding scheme will require people with 'good taste' to avoid 'tin foil hat' projects, says Cummings
Dominic Cummings has said his science funding scheme Aria would require people with "good taste" to decide which projects to back.
Asked how it would avoid giving funding to "the tin foil hat brigade", the former adviser said there was "no alternative to this fundamental problem" beyond installing someone who has "good taste in scientific ideas and researchers".
He noted the current system was often focused on individuals rather than teams and "solutions" rather than a paper in applied thinking.
"The British funding system does not think in that way - that is exactly one of the things that Aria will do."
Dominic Cummings has said he is "not confident" that his vision for a science funding scheme will work as planned now he has left No 10.
He told the science and technology committee: "There are too many restrictions... I wouldn't have ministers anywhere near it, I think that it would be disaster."
The former adviser said he would keep Aria "extremely simple" with just one director and a maximum of four trustees overseeing it and "cut it lose of the rest of the system".
"I am not confident about how it will work out," he said, noting the "shade of bureaucracy" that runs all the way through Whitehall and the Treasury "driving everyone completely insane".
Dominic Cummings on his way to the committee - Shutterstock
09:47 AM
Treasury pushed back against 'wonderful freedom' for science funding, says Dominic Cummings
Dominic Cummings has said his aim of introducing a radical new approach to science funding was slowed down by Brexit, Covid and the Treasury who said "where will it end - everyone will want this wonderful freedom?"
He told the science and technology committee: "We made some progress in second half of 2019, but we were fundamentally swamped by the Brexit problem.
"As soon as the election was finished I started work on this in January - in fact, science funding was main thing I worked on. Then, like everything else, it was swept away in the first wave of Covid."
But he held "dozens and dozens of meetings", although stressed it was fighting against the Whitehall machine.
"Doing something like this is so contrary to how the normal system works it is very hard to push through something like this," he said.
09:42 AM
Dominic Cummings gave Boris Johnson four conditions for taking top job
Dominic Cummings says he took his job as Boris Johnson's chief aide on the basis that he was "deadly serious about getting Brexit done".
The former adviser said it was one of four conditions, which also included doubling the science budget, create"some Arpa-like entity" and change how Whitehall works "because it's a disaster zone".
"And he said 'deal".
Asked if he was confident that it would be carried out now he was no longer involved, he says there are "some issues" around the science budget.
"But the problem is this deeper problem... it is not so much will the Government lose the will to do it, the principle according to which these sorts of things are very successful are completely hostile to normal bureaucracies."
He said the "bigger danger" is that a half-way house happened, which would "add to the chaos".
09:38 AM
Aria will allow 'extreme freedom' for innovation, says Dominic Cummings
Dominic Cummings has said the science funding scheme Aria should allow "extreme freedom" for innovation.
"That is one of the great lessons things that have been most successful - that is what produced the internet and PC revolution," he said, which would help "strip out" processes that slow things down such as procurement, state aid and the Treasury business case process "which is horrific".
These cause "huge delays" and "as applied to science and tech are very damaging", he adds.
09:35 AM
Science funding scheme to compete with 'huge wall of money coming from China', says Dominic Cummings
Greg Clark has started the evidence hearing with Dominic Cummings, who he says is "widely thought to be the originator" of the idea behind Aria, the scheme through which high risk science will be funded.
But he says there are questions about the Government's response to the pandemic, which Mr Cummings has said he will answer another time.
He asks Mr Cummings what the problem is to which Aria is the answer.
The former adviser says the current approach is slowed down by form filling and red tape, meaning projects are "destroyed by bureaucracies", despite science being hugely important to a government.
But there is a "huge wall of money coming from China", he adds.
09:15 AM
Half of UK adult population to have had Covid jab by end of week, says minister
Half of the UK population will have received their first Covid vaccine by the end of the week, the Business Secretary has revealed.
Amid growing chaos on the Continent, with 17 countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain halting the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine, Kwasi Kwarteng highlighted the relative impact the rollout programme was having in Britain.
"The jab is safe, we have got an extremely effective rollout programme - by end of the week about 50 per cent of the adult population will have been vaccinated," he told BBC Breakfast, noting that by contrast less than 10 er cent of EU populations had been immunised.
"Hospitalisation rates have fallen, the deaths falling considerably and the incidence of people catching the virus has also fallen," he added.
Asked about the situation in the EU, the minister noted that "both France and Italy have said the AstraZeneca jab is fine - in fact, I think the French prime minister Jean Castex has said publicly he will take the AstraZeneca jab."
"There is always an issue about confidence and take up levels, we have always got to reassure people that the vaccine is safe. Broadly I think people accept that... all these things have come down considerably because of vaccinations."
09:11 AM
Chopper's Politics: My relationship with state will never be repaired, says Sir Charles Walker
A senior Conservative MP has said that his relationship with the government can now "never be the same again" over the way it has passed draconian lockdown laws to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
Sir Charles Walker, a vice chairman of the 1922 committee of backbench Tory MPs and one of the most vocal critics of the reach of Covid restrictions, told Chopper's Politics: "Personally, my relationship with government as a citizen will never feel the same again. I will never look at a government with the same easy eye."
While acknowledging difficult decisions had to be made during the pandemic, he added: "It's something that I'll carry with me. It's changed my relationship with the state and will forever more is not a relationship that will ever be repaired. I will always be much more wary of the state now."
Listen to the full interview below.
Chopper's Politics podcast - 17/03/21
09:06 AM
Anti-protest bill 'what you'd expect from Communist China or Russia', says Labour MP
Shadow justice secretary David Lammy has said the Government's anti-protest bill was "the kind of thing you'd expect in Mao Zedong's China or Stalin's Russia."
The Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill passed its second reading last night, with 359 votes in favour and 263 against.
The senior Labour MP told Sky News: "This was an opportunity to get serious about these measures, some of which we had been calling for in the Domestic Violence Bill, and I'm afraid the Government has failed to act.
"Instead, we have a Bill that is largely around protecting statues and giving people 10 years for criminal damage for statues when it could be about these very serious issues."
Mr Lammy said the changes to peaceful protest in the Bill - which include plans to give police in England and Wales more powers to impose conditions on non-violent protests judged to be too noisy - were "very dangerous".
08:59 AM
Government 'overlooking' human rights abuse amid 'desperation' for trade deals, says Labour
The Government has been accused of "overlooking" human rights abuses because they are "increasingly desperate" to secure trade deals.
Labour's Emily Thornberry suggested that the UK was likely to lose "substantial amounts of trade with the EU" because of Brexit, meaning "they are getting increasingly desperate to sign up trade deals with other countries around the world and overlook their human rights record".
The MP said it would be "an abomination to sign up to trade deal giving China preferential rates and access to our economy ad the moment", although noted you can't "wish away" the country.
She made similar criticism of the UK's relationship with Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Cameroon.
"The Government is giving the impression it hasn't given it a single thought. Dominic Raab has given it a single thought - two single thoughts," she added. "On Marr he said we shouldn't be signing trade deals with countries that abuse human rights, but privately he says something else."
08:52 AM
UK must 'engage' with human rights abusers to be 'taken seriously', says minister
A senior minister has defended the UK's trade links with China and Dominic Raab's comments about not severing ties with human rights abusers (see below).
Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, told Radio 4s Today programme: "You are taken far more seriously if you make those objections and make that case if you are already engaged with the relevant country
"I don't think is constructive and doesn't make any sense is to metaphorically pull up the drawbridge and say we are not going to have any dealings with whatever country it is, and at the same time tell the country when we think they are not behaving properly, or treating minorities well.
"You have to engage in order to be taken seriously and have influence and that is what we are trying to do."
08:42 AM
'Very compelling reasons' not to open Cumbria cola mine, says minister
A senior minister has suggested the coal mine in Cumbria will not go ahead, following concerns about its impact on the UK's emissions and carbon budgets.
Asked why the Government doesn't "just say we are not going to do it", Kwasi Kwarteng told Radio 4's Today programme: "Essentially what we are doing is pretty much that - we are looking at it as part of a planning process.
Robert Jenrick, the Communities Secretary, has said "he wouldn't go against a local planning decision, but he is looking at it again," the minister said.
"There are very compelling reasons to do as the [Committee of Climate Change] suggested and not open the mine," he added.
The Business Secretary noted he was "always sympathetic" to the CCC.
08:30 AM
Germany 'overblowing' risks of blood clots, says JCVI
Germany is "overblowing" the fears about blood clots surrounding the AstraZeneca vaccine and delaying the rollout in Europe will cause more deaths a Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) member has said.
Professor Jeremy Brown, a consultant in respiratory medicine and member of the JCVI, told the BBC's Radio 4 Today programme that the particular concerns raised by the Germans was a clot in the brain which is "an incredibly rare event which occurs spontaneously" which affects between three and four people in every million.
He said: "The concerns about these blood clots are overblown by the Germans... by stopping the vaccine it will cause more illness and more deaths,"
Prof Brown added: "We're in the middle of a pandemic that we won't get out of until everyone has been vaccinated."
He closed the interview by saying that pausing for "spurious reasons is a bad way to move forward... I'm afraid all the publicity coming from Europe doesn't help us."
08:24 AM
Government welcomes Uber move on worker rights
The Business Secretary has said the ruling that Uber drivers in the UK should be guaranteed minimum wage, holiday pay and pensions was to be "welcomed".
Speaking to Sky News, Kwasi Kwarteng said: "I've always said that the new phase of our economy should be about protecting workers' rights, driving higher standards and driving new technologies.
"And I think that the Government's record on things like the national living wage that we introduced has been very good and we want to see a well paid workforce with strong worker protections, driving innovation and economic progress and I think that is something we can achieve."
Minister insists UK is standing up to China on 'unacceptable' behaviour
Kwasi Kwarteng said there were "serious issues" with China's record but that there was a difference between the country's government and private Chinese investment.
Yesterday several senior Conservative MPs raised concerns with Boris Johnson as he set out the integrated review for security and defence, accusing him of maintaining the "grasping naivety of the Cameron-Osborne years".
But this morning the Business Secretary insisted the UK was playing an active role in dealing with concerns about the Beijing regime.
"Our ambassador in China has made really strong representations to the Chinese government about their behaviour and we've said that we don't find this (Uighur treatment) remotely acceptable and we are trying to make international calls, alliances to make those representations to the Chinese government," he told Sky News.
"We are absolutely very firm on that.
"At the same time we are attracting Chinese investment ... - you've got to distinguish between investors, private citizens, people that we trade with and actual governments."
08:16 AM
Dominic Cummings to break silence for first time since leaving No 10
Dominic Cummings is up before the science and tech committee from 9:30am today, his first public appearance since he left No 10 just before Christmas.
Ostensibly he is being asked about the Advanced Research and Invention Agency (ARIA), launched by Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng last month.
But he is also expected to lift the lid on some of the key decisions taken by Boris Johnson's inner team during the pandemic last year.
All week, Gordon Rayner has been looking back at some of the big moments leading up to our first lockdown on March 23.
Planes still arrived from China even after lockdown
08:12 AM
Dominic Raab 'right' to say human rights should not preclude trade deals, says minister
A senior minister has backed Dominic Raab, after the Foreign Secretary said the UK should still seek trade deals with countries found to have abused human rights.
In a Q&A with Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) staff, a recording of which has been heard by HuffPost UK, Dominic Raab said: “If we restrict it to countries with ECHR-level standards of human rights, we’re not going to do many trade deals with the growth markets of the future.”
This morning Kwasi Kwarteng, the Business Secretary, told Sky News: "The Foreign Secretary is right, we should be trading with countries, but at the same time got to make very strong representations when we do if we think they are mistreating minorities, using torture.
"We can’t write whole countries off and refuse to engage while telling them how to behave."
07:54 AM
EU leaders turn on each other in vaccine row
Brussels blamed EU governments for growing vaccine chaos on Tuesday night as it accused them of stockpiling jabs despite a looming third Covid wave.
The European Commission's rare rebuke of member states came after 17 countries including Germany, France, Italy and Spain halted the rollout of the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine until the EU's medicines regulator completes an investigation.
On Tuesday, however, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) said there was "no indication" that the suspended AstraZeneca vaccine caused fatal blood clots. It will give the result of its investigation on Thursday.
An argument between Boston Red Sox reliever Chris Martin and Milwaukee Brewers first base coach Quintin Berry caused a bench-clearing confrontation at Fenway Park on Sunday.
WWE King and Queen of the Ring took place Saturday in Saudi Arabia. There were three championship contests on the six-match card Saturday, but only one title changed hands.
Before Rick Mears won his fourth Indianapolis 500 in 1991, he already had his eye one sweet prize: The winner gets a pace car. But he got a disappointing surprise instead. Here's a look at pace cars through the ages.
Marvin Harrison Jr., Fanatics said, “rejected or ignored every request” from the company while refusing to fulfill obligations of their contract that was signed last May.
