Now on bbc news, wednesday in parliament. Hello and welcome to wednesday in parliament. The headlines from westminster the Prime Minister announces new measures on sick pay to encourage people to self isolate if they suspect they have coronavirus. If they stay at home, the house will understand that they are helping to protect all of us by slowing the spread of the virus. Borisjohnson says hes sticking by his beleaguered home secretary priti patel, following bullying allegations. But one mp has a very different take on the issue. With this government, it seems that allegations of bullying or just being incompetent, gets you promoted. Whereas standing up to it, you lose yourjob. And what happened to flood Protection Measures promised by the government . It is more than four years after those words were uttered in this chamber and we still dont have them and we still desperately need them. But first, the Prime Minister has announced that workers will get statutory sick pay from the first day off work, rather than from the fourth, to help contain coronavirus. People have been urged to self isolate if they suspect they may have the virus, to protect others. Statutory sick pay is set at £94. 25 a week, so those who will benefit from the governments announcement are expected to receive an extra £40. Borisjohnson delivered the news at Prime Ministers questions. I can today announce that the Health Secretary will bring forward as part of our emergency coronavirus legislation, measures to allow the payment of statutory sick pay from the very first day you are sick, instead of four days under the current rules and i think that is the right way forward. Nobody should be penalised, mr speaker, for doing the right thing. Under this government there are 2 million workers on low pay, many of them women in the care sector who are not eligible for statutory sick pay at the present time. The Prime Ministers statementjust now, it is not clear whether it covers them or not and those on Social Security could face sanctions if they miss appointments and therefore, they and their families will face terrible hardship. When the Prime Minister brings forward the emergency legislation, will he guarantee that workers rights to sick pay from day one as he hasjust indicated will apply on statutory sick pay, will apply to all claimants and those who not currently eligible for statutory sick pay will have to make a terrible choice between health and hardship. The right honourable gentleman is raising a very important point and we are very much aware of the issues faced by the self and those on zero hours contracts. I stress that some of them will be entitled to statutory sick pay, others, a great many, others will be entitled to help through the existing system such as universal credit. And we are urgently, we are urgently looking at the application process to reflect on the advice on self isolation. Yesterday, the governor of the bank of england suggested a financial bridge be made available to assist markets through any volatility. If there is a financial bridge for markets, can the Prime Minister tell us will their be financial bridge for all workers and indeed those that rely on benefits that should not risk the threat of sanction if they cannot make appointments . I thank the right honourable gentleman for the excellent co operation that scotland and indeed all devolved administrations have given in preparing the battle plan and ready to recapitulate my answer to the right honourable gentleman. He will take every step that we can to ensure that businesses are protected in the economy remains strong and that no one, whether employed or self employed, whatever the status is, is penalised for doing the right thing. Now, you may have noticed that sitting next to borisjohnson was the home secretary, priti patel, whos at the centre of a storm over allegations of bullying. Sir philip rutnam, the most senior official at the home office, resigned at the weekend, alleging ms patels conduct towards staff included swearing, belittling people, and making unreasonable and repeated demands. There have been reports of similar behaviour when she was at the department for work and pensions. And on wednesday, fresh allegations emerged about her time at International Development. Ms patel denies all the allegations. The government is carrying out an internal Cabinet Office inquiry into the matter, but that didnt satisfy the labour leader. Will he now commit to an independent investigation into the home secretarys conduct led by an external lawyer and commit to a date when its findings will be made public . Mr speaker, of course there should be an investigation into any allegations of bullying. That is what the Cabinet Office is doing and that is what sir alex would be doing. But since he mentions the home secretary, that she is keeping this country safe by putting record numbers of police officers, she believes in stopping the Early Release of offenders and she is bringing in a system to tackle our migration crisis with an australian style point based system. A government cannot be judge and jury over its own conduct. There has to be an independent element of that investigation. Overnight, mr speaker, further allegations of emerge that the home secretary repeatedly harassed and humiliated the private secretary while she ran the department for International Development. If this is true, this suggests a shocking and unacceptable pattern of behaviour across three government departments. On each occasions, tens of thousands of pounds of hard earned taxpayers money has been spaffed up the wall to buy their silence. Was the Prime Minister aware of these allegations, and if he was, why did he appoint her . Mr speaker, i repeat the point that i made. The home secretary is doing an outstanding job and i have every confidence in her and if her allegations, of course they should be properly investigated by the Cabinet Office and that is what is happening. But i take no lessons about bullying, mr speaker, from the leader of a party where female mps were bullied so badly in a matter of anti semitism that they actually left the party and where the shadow chancellor has still not apologised for his call for a member of our party to be lynched. For the purpose of clarity, if the Cabinet Office inquiry into allegations with a home secretary breached the ministerial code, establishes that her conduct fell below the standard expected of a government minister, in any way and on any occasion, can the Prime Minister confirmed that she resign or be removed from office . Mr speaker, i return to the point i made earlier in that the home secretary is doing an outstanding job delivering change, putting police out on the streets, cutting crime and delivering a new immigration system and im sticking by her. Resignation of inexperienced civil servant, sacking of a government aid. With this government, it seems that allegations of bullying, or just being incompetent, gets you promoted. Whereas standing up to it, you lose yourjob. What does this say about this Prime Minister . Mr speaker, i loathe bullying but i would not take any lessons. I am not taking any lessons from a party that has presided over systematic bullying and discrimination against those who stick up for the Jewish Community and israel in this country. And we still have yet to hear a proper apology from the labour party, from the labour leadership for what theyve done. Straight after pmqs, the lib dems raised a point of order. Since there have been further allegations today about the conduct of the home secretary, if the secretary of state can advise the speaker can advise how parliament could initiate a genuinely independent inquiry into the conduct of the home secretary towards Civil Servants and both departments, thank you. The speaker sir Lindsay Hoyle said that wasnt a matter for him, but shed made her point. Senior conservatives lined up to tear into the governments decision to give the Chinese Technology firm huawei a role in providing the 5g mobile phone network in the uk. They said the decision had angered allies and it posed a threat to national security. The attack was led by a former conservative leader. The governments decision to go ahead with huawei with the 5g network in the uk has angered our allies, perplexed many of us who see it as an avoidable risk in the rush, and i do believe it is a rush, to go ahead with the 5g system for the uk. Using huaweis products extensively, the uk has brushed aside concerns of all of the most important allies that we rely on generally. A fellow conservative said huawei was effectively a state owned corporation. Is it not baffling that the government continues to argue that huawei is a private company with no meaningful sense by the western definition can that be said. I was surprised by Radio Programme a couple weeks ago that a director of huawei in this country, who happens to be a former secretary describes huawei as being rather likejohn lewis, in that. In that it was owned by its employees and we all got this wrong. Does he agreed with me that this is in absurd characterisation of huawei . Well, it is either completely absurd, but im going to review my questions from john lewis. My socks may it be bugged. Another mp was perplexed by the governments decision to limit huaweis role to 35 by conceding there is a problem, it has to be limited to 35 , does he not agree that the government is admitting that really, the only safe option is to go to 0 . We have infuriated the americans and our other allies in the five is. We know the Foreign Security had a bad time getting it down to australia. Should we now have a considered programme of the five allies to get to zero over a short period of time . I completely agree with him and this is going to be the point of what im saying today is that i think that 35 is going to be plucked from thin air and im going to go into the reasons as to why this does not work. Imagine in 1939, that while we were developing our radar system we decided to actually have one of the nazi camps in germany involved directly in doing it. This is the level, but were reducing the 35 of the involvement, so only 35 is controlled by them. I wonder how ridiculous that is. 0pposition mps joined forces with the conservatives. Is there also not an issue when we buy the box of tricks from the chinese, if i call it that, that we are losing something here because this country, we have to maintain our skills in all of the stuff and i believe going down that route, we are going down a very dangerous road on the front. It is very clear in this room that there is bipartisan support for his position. As indeed in the united states, the republicans, the democrats and in australia, and the australian liberal government and the Australian Labour party. And therefore one must ask why is the government pursuing this . Because i think he is slightly in danger of accepting an argument that somehow huawei are light years ahead of other companies within this field. They are probably a few months ahead in the nature of this industry which is always rapidly changing. The establishment at the moment in the uk has found itself somehow locked to this huawei process. And we need to break them free. Its like getting someone off the addiction to heroin, we need to put them into rehab and this is the point of my speech. An snp mp was struck by the line up of speakers. You can tell this is important by the variety of personalities sat here behind me. We have several former cabinet ministers, former deputy Prime Minister, the chairman of the Foreign Affairs select committee, the chairman and the former chairman of the dcms were here earlier. If the tory party had a bureau, this would be it. So that is a sign that clearly, clearly the government has trouble ahead and so it should. Chi 0nwurah, an electrical engineer, started her career working for major telecoms firms. If someone had said to me that a couple of decades later, we would be incapable of building a european Telecoms Network without a chinese supplier, i would have been absolutely dumbfounded. How has the industry got itself into a position that our Critical National infrastructure is so dependent on one high risk vendor . The minister tried to reassure mps. Overtime, our intention is to reduce our reliance on the high risk vendors as market diversification takes place and we want to get to a position where we do not have to use a high risk vendor in our Telecoms Network at all. Iain duncan smith thought that was a very important point. Is it now government policy to drive a 0 involvement by huawei and other non secure vendors, is that now the policy, notjust 35 . Our aim is to not to be reliant on high risk vendors at all. And i appreciate he would like for me to set out a timetable for that, but i cannot today. The minister, matt warman. Youre watching wednesday in parliament with me, mandy baker. The uk government is committed to spending 0. 7 of National Income on international aid, but how should that money be spent . Last week, downing street announced an overhaul of its approach to Foreign Policy as part of a government review. And experts suggest that ministers want to use more aid to generate economic and commercial benefits both for recipient countries and for the uk. At International Development questions, a conservative asked about expanding trade. Now that weve left the european union, the uk can deepen and expand our trade with countries and businesses across africa. Can my right honourable friend update the house on progress made to develop the potential that will develop and benefit constituencies across the uk . Indeed, so this is a great opportunity for constituencies across the country and all of our nations. Leaving the eu provides this opportunity to explore the best ways to develop our trade and investment relationships across africa. But an snp mp reckoned that question showed a shift in emphasis. As the government undertakes this integrated review, will the secretary of state reaffirm the governments commitment to a fully independent department with cabinet level representation, and does she agree with me that it should not be compromise for a quid pro quo deal being made to facilitate aid for trade . Well, i can assure the honourable gentleman that this department does have cabinet representation, and i would make the point that trade can be and is a key driver for economic growth. It triggers positive changes in a countrys economy. This helps raise incomes in the poorest countries, createsjobs, lifts people out of poverty and helps countries move beyond trade dependency. But another mp questioned the commitment of the new secretary of state to the aid budget. In 2013, the secretary of state tweeted an article, which questioned the 0. 7 target of gdp and more recently, she circulated an article by the former Development Secretary saying that the waste of cash in vanity projects and far flung lands had kept her awake at night. So can she confirm here today that she has changed her mind on this matter and is now committed to the 0. 7 target Going Forward . Here, here i thank the honourable gentleman for his question, and i am absolutely committed to the 0. 7 . I am committed to spending it both in value value for money terms to the british taxpayer whos funding it, but most importantly, its to make sure that we help those countries that are most fragile, most in need both of aid and then development so that they can become strong, independent countries themselves to get to that point, and that involves doing lots of things not necessarily in the way weve done them before, but making sure that weve got a long Term Investment perspective to help those countries become self sufficient. The International Development secretary, anne marie trevelyan. Labour have called for an independent review into the recent flooding. Rainfall data from the met office has shown that last month was the wettest february since records began. Some areas, such as west yorkshire, are still suffering the effects. A labour mp described what happened in his constituency. A culvert had overflown, and from the top of the hill, a slurry had come down full of cold dust, debris and a fair amount of sewage as well. I mean, it swept down through a whole part of the constituency, and what was particularly upsetting was not only what those people had to suffer on the first occasion, but three days later, in pleasant street, ironically named, the flooding came all over again because the brash that got stuck in the middle of the culvert was now further down and water was coming out of a completely different place. So when nobody else was being flooded in the country, all over again, the people in pleasant street were flooded. Why this is particularly upsetting for so many people in my constituency is that ive met dozens and dozens of the people who have no insurance, not because theyre in a flood plain or anything complicated, very simply because in the run up to christmas, so many families in my patch are on boarderline finances. They are literally making decisions about whether to put food on the table or buy a school uniform. Consequently, the insurance is the first bill that goes. Another labour mp spoke about floods which had devastated a part of her constituency at the end of 2015 when liz truss was the environment secretary. We were promised in the aftermath of those floods by the right honourable member for southwest norfolk, the environment secretary at the time, that yorkshire would soon have one of the most resilient flood defence programmes in the country and that leeds would be given the right level of flood protection. Well, mr deputy speaker, it is more than four years after those words were uttered in this chamber and we still dont have them and we still desperately need them. But a conservative criticised labour for demanding an inquiry into what had happened. We dont need an independent review to know what happened in the floods. Most mps who are flooded this time and many times before know exactly where all the water comes from in their constituency. On top of that, we had four times the monthly rainfall in just 24 hours. The information is already there. All the review will do is waste more time and more money. Craig whittaker. Mps have been told that hs2 didnt make public the potentialy spiralling costs of the project in an annual report because it didnt want to scare the horses. Representatives of the high speed line and the department for transport were appearing before the commons spending watchdog, the Public Accounts Committee. In 2015, hs2 was predicted to cost £56 billion, but recent estimates say that could nearly double. Ministers finally confirmed last month that the line from london to birmingham, leeds and manchester would go ahead. The chair of the transport committee was sitting in on the session and he had a simple sounding question. You previously told this committee, that hst was running to budget and schedule. What went wrong . Firstly, i would say, budget and the schedule for this project was set as a fixed point far too early in time. We set the 55. 7 billion budget in 2013. Both of those points, there is a huge amount of uncertainty and i dont think we can know that that schedule was correct. She said risk and complexity had been underestimated and Construction Costs were higher. Huw merriman said ms kelly had been told in march 2019 that the programme couldnt be delivered on budget, but he thought that wasnt what shed told the Public Accounts Committee in may that year. I did not say that the budget was coming in on budget and schedule. What i said was that the budget remained which it did and had not been changed. I indicated that it would not change other than at the spending review, which at that point, were expecting to have the autumn. I also highlighted that there were challenges around scope choices and there were emerging cost pressers. But if you know that the costs are overrunning, that really rips up the budget as far as thats concerned. Back in september or october 2018, the contractor cost came back at 80. 3 over budget. That surely would have told you that the budget has been ripped up. Certainly, that was a very important moment. Pretty catastrophic, 83 over budget. They formally notified the department of the scale of the cost pressure it was dealing with. The Immediate Reaction wasnt to increase the budget. It was for us to charge the company to produce an action plan to bring those costs down. An snp member of the committee asked about the annual report for 2018 19. I say from the Financial Statements that were audited, somebody reading that would have been given no indication that all that anything had gone wrong during the financial year. It was referring to a 12 month period with everything that could go wrong did go wrong. At the time, there was a lot of going on with the supply chain. We we re we were confident we could find a way to get back to an affordable position. We thought it be inappropriate to say otherwise because in that would be trying to scare the horses. That document is in the public domain. We are in the middle of some sensitive negotiations. We held sort of a Straight Line on that. The department knew. Word was beginning to leak out. Your words did not want to scare the horses, just remind you that some of the horses in this race are the taxpayers that are funding this programme, and yet, it was rightly highlighted which presented a lot more positive than the reality. Yeah, i think its a fair challenge. I would have to go back and look at that report. There were a lot of really sensitive things in flight at that particular point in time. Mark thurston. You may remember that in the previous parliament, there was no love lost between the former leader of the commons, Andrea Leadsom, and the speaker at the time, john bercow. She accused him of calling her a stupid woman. He admitted that he did mutter the word stupid, but it wasnt directed at her. Well, in the february reshuffle, Andrea Leadsom was sacked from herjob as business secretary. In a personal statement to mp5, she had mr bercow in her sights as she recalled the time she voted against David Camerons government. Is one of 81 conservatives to vote for an referendum on eu membership, leading to media speculation that i had told the chancellor george osborne, if youll forgive me mr speaker, to eff off. I can assure you that there was only one person to who i might be tempted to provide such frank advice. That wouldnt include any former or current chancellor and certainly not any current speaker. Laughter and that dig at the former speaker brings us to the end of the programme. So from me, mandy baker, goodbye. Hello. Some Early Morning mist and fog across Northern Britain should clear to leave the majority with a fine day and some sunshine today, just a few showers around. Temperatures will only slowly recover. 0ne temperatures will only slowly recover. One notable exception to oui recover. One notable exception to our story is some rain to the south of the uk. This frontal system to blame, the centre of it ploughing into france bringing strong winds. For the south coast, a wet and windy start to the day and the rain edging its way further north as it tucks into the south east of the uk perhaps as far as kent for a time through the afternoon. It does clear from the west so i drive story for the south west by the afternoon. Quite a chilly breeze coming from the north sea across east anglia, a few showers here as well and more showers for the Northern Ireland and the north west of scotland. 0ur temperatures only recovering through the day to a high of seven or eight degrees. A very warm welcome to bbc news. Im mike embley. Our top stories californias governor declares a state of emergency over the coronavirus outbreak. The state has confirmed at least 50 cases and its first death. With at least 100 virus deaths recorded so far, the highest outside china, italy closes schools, universities, cinemas and theatres. As super tuesday brings a dramatic political comeback forjoe biden, his billionaire rival, michael bloomberg, pulls out, giving his backing to the former vice president. I have always believed that it starts with uniting behind the candidate with the best shot to do it, and after yesterday puzzling vote, it is clear that candidate is my friend and a great friend, joe biden