defending his role at the inquiry which is looking at how political decisions were made. mr sunak has been accused by some of putting the economy before lives. the main criticism centres around his month—long eat out to help 0ut scheme in august 2020. diners received 50% off meals out on mondays, tuesdays and wednesdays, paid for by the government. it cost the treasury £840 million. at the time, rishi sunak said it would protectjobs in the hospitality industry and boost the economy. but one analysis suggests the benefit to the industry was comparatively small compared to other measures. the scheme started in august. you can see covid was on the rise from september but we don't know for certain why. people were mixing more, with schools and workplaces reopening too. here's our health reporter, jim reed. mine too. that and the yakisoba, depends on the mood i'm in. back in the summer of 2020, the then chancellor brought his flagship policy to the table. eat out to help 0ut subsidised midweek meals in pubs and restaurants. it proved popular at the time. but critics say it fuelled a rise in infections. did but critics say it fuelled a rise in infections-_ infections. did you ignore the advice over— infections. did you ignore the advice over cobit? _ i swear by the gita. rishi sunak began by an apology. i just want to apologise... minister said they were not consulted in advance to the scheme. he was asked to respond. mit? advance to the scheme. he was asked to resond. ~ , ., ., , advance to the scheme. he was asked to remand-— to respond. why would i raise it as a risk when — to respond. why would i raise it as a risk when i _ to respond. why would i raise it as a risk when i didn't _ to respond. why would i raise it as a risk when i didn't believe - to respond. why would i raise it as a risk when i didn't believe it - a risk when i didn't believe it was because it was designed in a context of a safe reopening? the onus is surely on the people who now believed it was a risk to have raised it at the time when something could have been done about it if they felt strongly. i am very clear that i don't believe it was.- that i don't believe it was. some anal sis that i don't believe it was. some analysis suggests _ that i don't believe it was. some analysis suggests the _ that i don't believe it was. some analysis suggests the benefit to | analysis suggests the benefit to companies wasn't huge, but people speaking for the industry sayjobs were on the line. i speaking for the industry say “obs were on the [mei were on the [me i think it is hiuhl were on the [me i think it is highly likely _ were on the [me i think it is highly likely that _ were on the [me i think it is highly likely that without - were on the [me i think it isj highly likely that without eat were on the [me i think it is - highly likely that without eat out to help 0ut you would have seen tens of thousands of businesses fail, millions ofjobs at risk across the sector. we lost 10% of hospitality businesses that year even with all that support measures. but businesses that year even with all that support measures.— businesses that year even with all that support measures. but today was not 'ust that support measures. but today was not just about — that support measures. but today was notjust about the _ that support measures. but today was not just about the eat _ that support measures. but today was notjust about the eat out _ that support measures. but today was notjust about the eat out to - that support measures. but today was notjust about the eat out to help - not just about the eat out to help 0ut scheme. as chancellor rishi sunak was at the centre of the key balancing act of the pandemic. 0n the one hand, officials were trying to contain the virus, on the other, they were trying to protect the economy as much as possible. later rishi sunak denied a suggestion heard earlier in this inquiry that the treasury was nicknamed the pro—death scored by other officials. were you aware that the treasury was being referred to in those terms? i wasn't and i do not think it is a fair characterisation on the incredibly hard—working people that i was lucky to be supported by in the treasury. it i was lucky to be supported by m the treasury-— i was lucky to be supported by m the treasury. it will now be up to this inquiry _ the treasury. it will now be up to this inquiry to — the treasury. it will now be up to this inquiry to decide _ the treasury. it will now be up to this inquiry to decide if _ the treasury. it will now be up to this inquiry to decide if the - this inquiry to decide if the government got that balance right. his verdict is unlikely to be published before this time next year at the earliest. an influential group of right—wing conservative mps, the european research group, has called on rishi sunak to abandon his new legislation aimed at sending some asylum seekers to rwanda because it has "too many holes in it". mr sunak has put forward revised proposals after the supreme court raised concerns about the safety of asylum seekers who would be sent there. mps are to vote on whether to support the plans tomorrow. 0ur political editor chris mason reports. the prime minister under oath three—and—a—half miles away as his party plots here in westminster. remember this guy? a self—styled warrior of the brexit battles is back. the bill overall provides a partial and incomplete solution. the feeling very much in the meeting is that the government will be best advised to pull the bill, and to come up with a revised version that works better than this one, which has so many holes in it. the thing is for ministers as well as those like mr francois who says the government isn't going far enough, other conservatives fear it could be going too far. the one nation group of conservative mps acknowledges this is a hugely important issue to be tackled and needs to be tackle quickly but we have to do that within the bounds of international law. the government has a persuasion job on its hands, it has published its legal advice which acknowledges people could still take it to court. the bill does allow for an exceptionally narrow route to individual challenge. not to do so would mean ministers accepting that those unfit to fly, for example those in the late stages of pregnancy, could be removed with no right to judicial scrutiny. in any case, completely blocking any court challenges would be a breach of international law. here at the home office there are two new ministers after the resignation of the immigration minister last week. one of the newbies is trying to turn on charm towards tory mps, see if you can keep count of how many times he says encourage. tomorrow i am going to be encouraging each and every one of my colleagues to vote with the government. i am going to encourage them to listen. i have been engaging as you would expect with colleagues notjust over the weekend, notjust over the last weeks but over the last weeks and months and i would encourage colleagues to listen, i would encourage colleagues on both side of the house to listen to the debate, to have a robust exchange and make up their own minds but i will be encouraging them to support the government tomorrow. the rwanda plan has cost £240 million so far, with a further 50 million set aside as well. and this afternoon the top civil servant at the home office said... we do not have the evidence that there is a deterrent effect yet and think it would be surprising if we did, given it is not yet operational. as a measure of how worried the government is about winning tomorrow's vote, familiar faces are appearing on their behalf. blimey the government must have a bit of the colley wobbles if they have ask you to come out and bat for them. laughter. hardly that. i volunteered myself really over the weekend. is the essence of your message to colleagues, look, this isjust as good as it is going to get? i am an old mountaineer, it is move of a ridge, if you go left it is too hard and it will collapse, because of that, if we go right it is too soft and it will collapse because of that. the persuading, the meeting, the deciding continues here tonight. and tonight there are more meetings under way on both wings of the conservative argument as far as this is concerned. conservative mps are trying to work out what they are going to do tomorrow night. by the way, if you are twitched by the mildest sense of deja vu, me as well. it rather reminds you of those noisy brexit years, the arguments, detentions, the fury within the conservative party, even some familiarfaces conservative party, even some familiar faces and voices as well. mr francois among them. and the government in persuading mode, turning on that charm and that if you sickness. five references if you are counting of the word encouraged ljy are counting of the word encouraged by the minister there and they will continue to do their encouraging for the next 24—hour is. why? if rishi sunak were to lose tomorrow night it would be crippling for his authority. but there is quite a big chance that it is not as decisive as that, but the twist for him is in that, but the twist for him is in that circumstance if they do manage to win tomorrow it is awkwardness postponed because this whole idea would return in the new year and it would return in the new year and it would still have caveats attached. there's anger and frantic negotiation going on at the cop28 climate summit in dubai after the final draft deal was widely criticised as being too weak. it puts forward a number of ways to reduce global emissions but there's no direct reference to phasing out fossilfuels. 0ur climate editor justin rowlatt is there. what is going on? what is going on? well, negotiators _ what is going on? what is going on? well, negotiators and _ what is going on? what is going on? well, negotiators and campaigners l well, negotiators and campaigners agree that the world was the closest it has ever been to agreeing a deal to get rid of fossil fuels, which of course are causing climate change, the climate change affecting our world. there were a few holdout countries led by saudi arabia and they included iraq and bolivia. but if anyone can persuade them to get on board the uae could, the people hosting this conference, neighbours of saudi arabia. and then a couple of saudi arabia. and then a couple of hours ago we got a new draft text and instead of phasing out fossil fuels we got a list of options, a menu if you like. you could choose to do all of them, very ambitious, or you could do none at all, so a very weak deal. as you say, the 80 plus countries who really want a strong deal have retreated to their pavilion, their negotiating rims, to lick their rooms and consider how much they can get back of that strong language in the text. we will see as these negotiations continue. two women and a man have been found guilty of murdering a vulnerable woman from west london who was tortured, starved and battered to death. a jury at the old bailey heard that shakira spencer died after a campaign of cruelty and humiliation and was "treated like a slave". you may find some details in this report from our correspondent june kelly distressing. i have two lipsticks. shakira spencer with her online make—up lessons. i'll go a bit peachy today. she was a healthy young woman with a partner and two children. she became an emaciated wreck after she lost control of her life. she was starved, fed only sachets of ketchup and treated like a slave. and this was the evil trio responsible. the leader ashana studholme, herfriend lisa richardson and her one—time boyfriend sean pendlebury. ashana studholme had befriended shakira, introducing her to drugs introducing her to drugs and then controlling her and isolating her from the life she had established. this was her being arrested in september last year shortly after shakira's body was found. in the days before, shakira by now a frail figure because of all the beatings she had taken, was captured on door bell footage in north—west london in harrow. this was the weekend of the final attacks which prove fatal. boiling water was used to injure shakira. a kind of makeshift flame—thrower with a can of aerosol was used to burn her. and then beating her around the head with what has been described as a kind of heavy massager. ashana studholme and sean pendlebury then bundled a dying shakira into a car boot and drove her back to her own flat in ealing in west london. they locked her in a cupboard in the hall. they later returned and moved her to a bottom bunk bed. it is not known whether at this point she was alive or dead. they left her body to rot and decompose. two weeks later neighbours saw maggots crawling out from under her front door and called the police. ijust [just hope, or i would want them to know the gravity of what they have done. i know the gravity of what they have done. [just hope that. that picture i have seen, it makes me feel physically, but it is not shakira, my sister who i have known all my life bar those last couple of years, they are not the same person. ealing council says it is carrying out a safeguarding adult review into the case of shakira spencer. june kelly, bbc news. intense fighting continues in gaza, where israel's military has issued another call for civilians to evacuate the two largest cities, khan younis and gaza city. hamas, designated a terror organisation by the uk government, has warned that more than 100 hostages it is holding will die unless israel frees more palestinian prisoners in exchange. the united nations general assembly is likely to vote tomorrow on another call for a ceasefire in gaza. 0ur international editor jeremy bowen reports, and you may find some details in his report upsetting. taking cover on the road to tel aviv from rockets out of gaza. air raid sirens and the activation of israel's iron dome antimissile system. most of the time, life looks pretty normal here in central israel, but everything changed with the seventh of the october attacks. their fear shows the depth of the collective trauma, hamas inflicted on israelis. iron dome took care of most of the rockets, but one man nearby was hurt. the fact that hamas can still attack means that it is not beaten. we were going to tel aviv to see the man on the left, a veteran fighter pilots, air force general and former head of israeli military intelligence who still advises his successors. the us defence secretary, lloyd austin, said that if israel continues the way it is, the risk is a tactical victory but a strategic defeat because too many palestinians will have been killed. what do you make of that statement? israel is having a better ratio of terrorists to collateral damage than the americans and the brits have in musso and raqqa. what about the civilians? so, when i say collateral damage, i'm speaking about the civilians. there are more civilians than terrorists killed in musso there are more civilians than terrorists killed in mosul and raqqa then in gaza. please go and check the numbers. why is it that the americans, your most significant ally, are saying that israel is killing too many palestinians civilians? they want it to be done without any collateral damage, without any humanitarian crisis. if they have the formula how to do it, please, help us to have it. this formula does not exist. will this lead to a lengthy israeli occupation of gaza? no, we don't want to occupy gaza. we don't want hamas to be in gaza. one reservation. there will not be a military power that can repeat the 7th of october attack on israel. and the future for wounded civilians in gaza's last few overcrowded hospitals may be amputations or death, as they are not getting the follow—up treatment they need. this girl has just been wounded for the second time. she says, "they cut my hand. "my grandpa was killed, my dad was shot, and my brother is dead." she's asked what she wants. "a new hand." jeremy bowen, bbc news, jerusalem. our top story this evening... rishi sunak defends his eat out to help 0ut scheme and says sorry to bereaved families at the covid inquiry. and coming up, how this mi5 secretary played a key role in an elaborate plan to trick germany during world war ii. coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes... sunderland's stadium of light is coming up on sportsday in the next 15 minutes... sunderland's stadium of light is to host the opening game of next year's women's rugby world cup in a move world rugby says can engage and inspire new audiences. the deaths of dozens of people in the last six months in the uk have been linked to a new group of street drugs that can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin. they're called nitazenes and they are synthetic opioids that are believed to be coming to the uk from china. 0ur midlands correspondent, navtej johal and producer alex homer have been speaking to the mother of a young man who's thought to have died after a fatal overdose. he was funny. pretty. brilliant dancer. so kind. just kind. simeon mcanoy, who was 33, died just nine weeks ago from a drug overdose. an inquest will determine his cause of death, but the coroner has told his family that a powerful synthetic opioid was found in his system, belonging to a class of drugs known as nitazenes. it is believed that at the time, simeon thought he was taking heroin. we're sitting in the living room, with simeon in a box. i don't know how i will ever come back from it. simeon died here in birmingham. but his death is not the only one linked to nitazenes around here in recent months. it's become a problem in this city, and across the country. nitazenes can be hundreds of times stronger than heroin. national crime agency figures shared with the bbc shows they have been linked to at least 5a deaths in the last six months, with a0 more waiting further testing. it's believed that a crackdown on heroin production in afghanistan has led to a rise in synthetic opioids here. the national crime agency says nitazenes are an absolute priority. they are likely to be being produced in illicit labs within china, and they are probably coming into the uk through a number of different vectors, but including fast parcels and posts. amy's in hospital after trying nitazenes dozens of times. she's used heroin for more than 20 years, but was shocked by their strength. we have agreed not to use her full name or show herface. it's like a blanket, but it's like a, like a warm rush across your body. it can — itjust puts you out like a light. i mean, they call it gouching. i mean, you're just out of it for at least an hour. it's too dangerous, you know, i want to stop, i've got to stop it. there's too many people i know that are dying off it, and i — one of these days it's just going to be me. the first consultant in the uk to treat a nitazene overdose believes this will be a long—term problem. drug charities say they are worried about the impact nitazenes are having on drug users, and the government has said it will ban 15 new synthetic opioids, but jackie wants to see more being done. i want awareness, the government to step in and protect our young people. otherwise, this is going to be an epidemic and we are going to lose a lot of young people. navteonhal, bbc news. the us—based dentistry firm smile direct club has shut down after filing for bankruptcy in september. the company, best known for selling clear aligners remotely, says its customer support line will no longer be available and recommend those who want to carry on with their treatment should get in touch with a local dentist. lora jones reports. these are smile direct club aligners, they are laser cut for comfort, to gently straighten teeth... in was a company that offered clear braces or aligners and they said cheaper. i met 0lly who paid 800 for when they ran a speci