ben thompson, on 0xford worse before they start to improve. ben thompson, on oxford street for us this morning, thank you. labour is demanding a statement from the home secretary, priti patel, after it emerged that 150,000 arrest records were accidentally wiped from police databases. the home office says it's assessing the impact of the glitch, which happened last week, but insists no records of criminals or dangerous persons were deleted. charlotte wright has this report. the police national computer is a vital tool for bringing perpetrators to justice. used to store and share criminal records information between forces in investigations across the country. but it has been revealed that 150,000 of its biometric entries, including dna and fingerprints, have been wiped by mistake, after the files were accidentally flagged for deletion. the home office says the missing entries relate to people arrested and released, where no further action had been taken. and not criminal or dangerous persons. but it's thought, if it's not recovered, it may hind

ben thompson. the headlines on bbc news... a warning from england's chief medical officer that the peak of the pandemic is still to come — and the next few weeks will be worst — as the government looks at improving enforcement of the current lockdown measures. seven mass coronavirus vaccination centres — capable of injecting thousands of people a week — are opening across england this morning indonesian investigators believe the boeing 737, that crashed on saturday, was destroyed when it hit the sea — which could rule out a mid—air breakup. the arrival of the covid vaccine has also offered fresh hope to thousands of care home residents. and as the roll out continues for those at the top of the priority list, john maguire has been finding out how it's been going. people living in care homes have been among the most vulnerable in this pandemic. visits from families, normally such a vital part of daily life, have been under heartbreaking restrictions. just before christmas, rapid testing meant that brendan black could

now ben thompson reflects on how the uk economy, businesses and jobs suffered throughout the coronavirus pandemic and how things changed — from the way we work and travel to how we shop — in review 2020: the business year. i've struggled getting out of bed some days, because what do you do with yourself when your whole world is turned upside down? we lost 90% of our revenue overnight. 2020 was the year that changed just about everything. the coronavirus pandemic affected how we live and how we work. it upended our social lives, changed our shopping habits and impacted how and where we could travel. i think this is by far the biggest crisis we have ever faced and clearly requires us to take very quick and deep action. for the country, it led to the biggest economic slump in a generation causing thousands of people to lose their jobs across the uk. and so, as we grapple with its impacts on our lives and our livelihoods, we will assess how long it could take for the country to recover. and amid all of this turmoil, we wonder whether covid has given us reason to stop, to reassess, and pe

welcome to breakfast with ben thompson and sima kotecha. our headlines today: reassurance on the uk's covid vaccine programme from ministers, in the face of moves by the eu to control the export of supplies. the uk applies to join a trade agreement with 11 countries around the pacific. it could make it easier for businesses to sell to countries like canada and australia. manchester united's marcus rashford is the latest player to reveal he's been racially abused online. in a tweet, he says he's been subjected to social media and humanity at its worst. the story of how an accidental meeting and the kindness of strangers saved one family from the holocaust. is this the perfect location for binge watching films? a cinema for one, in a lighthouse on a remote island. good morning. we are looking at a cold and frosty start, and many of us will have a dry day with spells of sunshine. in the west we are going to see a band of rain moving in, and this will probably bring some snow to the hills of wales and perhaps the hills of northern ireland as we

let's speak to our business presenter, ben thompson. let's find out more about what the travel industry thinks. what reaction have you been hearing? it's possible this announcement throws up more questions than answers?m possible this announcement throws up more questions than answers? it was ever thus. the industry has been calling for this for months. i have been speaking to the boss of heathrow airport and they say they first called for this plant back in april of last year and it has taken almost ten months for that to come to fruition. he has described it as a belt and braces approach. as jonathan was telling us, this testing regime will come on top of those mandatory quarantine rules so when you return to the uk, whether you have a test or not and whether that test is negative or not, you still need to isolate for ten days. or if you use the test and release system, you can get out after five days. nonetheless, it is very complicated for travellers to know exactly what they need to do. he has also been calling for a more coordinat

welcome to breakfast with ben thompson and sima kotecha. 0ur headlines today: reassurance on the uk's covid vaccine programme from ministers, in the face of moves by the eu to control the export of supplies. the uk applies to join a trade agreement with 11 countries around the pacific. it could make it easier for businesses to sell to countries like canada and australia. manchester united's marcus rashford is the latest player to reveal he's been racially abused online. in a tweet, he says he's been subjected to social media and humanity at its worst. the story of how an accidental meeting and the kindness of strangers saved one family from the holocaust.

good morning welcome to breakfast with ben thompson and nina warhurst. 0ur headlines today: large—scale vaccinations are to begin at another ten centres in england from tomorrow, with more than a million over—80s invited to receive their coronavirus jab. it comes as the duke of cambridge praises nhs staff and volunteers for their work in the covid vaccine rollout. i want to say a huge congratulations to everybody involved in vaccination programme, because it looks tremendous, it really does. new financial support for airports in england hit by the latest travel curbs, but the industry warns more help is needed.

good morning welcome to breakfast with ben thompson and nina warhurst. our headlines today: large—scale vaccinations are to begin at another ten centres in england from tomorrow, with more than a million over—80s invited to receive their coronavirus jab. it comes as the duke of cambridge praises nhs staff and volunteers for their work in the covid vaccine rollout. i want to say a huge congratulations to everybody involved in vaccination programme, because it looks tremendous, it really does. new financial support for airports in england hit by the latest travel curbs, but the industry warns more help is needed. nasa fires up the engines of its megarocket, which it hopes will send american astronauts back to the moon. socially distanced celebrations in the premier league. james maddison and leicester city show that the message is getting through, as they move up to second in the league. good morning. it is a sundae of sunny spells for many of us. a bit more of a breeze north and west, and thatis more of a breeze north and west, and that is where we wi

our business presenter ben thompson has more: 0xford oxford street and the host —— in the heart of london's west end is often full. howevershops heart of london's west end is often full. however shops here remain closed. 2020 is the worst year on record for retail. that is because in the final two weeks of december, the number of shoppers on our high streets was down by 50%. as more of us got used to click and collect and online shopping, the proportion of all sales that were done online hit 30%. the british retail consortium warned that 2020 was the worst year on record for retail with nearly 180,000 jobs lost. but they also warned that things could get worse before they get better. debenhams, which is in administration, its flagship storejust which is in administration, its flagship store just round the corner from here is one of five which will not to reopen even when restrictions are eased. arcadia group which owns brands such as topshop, dorothy perkins, and burton, is struggling to find a buyer. next was one of the big names in the line to buy topshop, thejewel in big names in the lin

let's speak to our business presenter ben thompson. there will be a clamour by businesses for this money because they need it. just when they thought they need it. just when they thought they could make plans for the future they could make plans for the future the prime minister announced a further lockdown last night. what businesses will try to be working at now is whether cash will be coming from because so many businesses still have huge expense even though they can't open. they have to pay their rent and rates and other bills as well as supporting staff even although they may be on the furlough scheme. the package of measures announced by the chancel this morning may go some way to rectify that. he says this will help businesses get through to the spring when they led to believe restrictions may be able to be lifted once again. i many businesses are frustrated that it is the on of restrictions proving so difficult to navigate. one landlord i spoke to this morning says he has a cellar. he was hoping to sell. even if they we re he w

our business corresponded ben thompson joins us, tell us more about these announcements. we are led to believe it could be worth up to £9,000 per individual property of a business, the chancellor says it will help workers and businesses get to the worst of the latest restrictions, he says, so workers will be ready when businesses able to reopen again. he was under mounting pressure to announce something pretty quickly get in the new restrictions put in place across england last night, restrictions already in place in scotla nd restrictions already in place in scotland and wales, remember, and therefore businesses will be planning what they do next and what they are looking at is what happens further down the line, they will be making very big decisions about investment, jobs and businesses, whether they are viable and they can keep them running, they will be making those decisions now and not waiting until the spring, so the chancellor was under the pressure to come up with money pretty fast. we have been told this latest round of support will help 600,000 different prop

let's talk to our business presenter ben thompson. it feels like this has been a long time coming? it it feels like this has been a long time coming?— it feels like this has been a long time cominu ? ., , i. ., time coming? it does, you are right. good morning _ time coming? it does, you are right. good morning to _ time coming? it does, you are right. good morning to you. _ time coming? it does, you are right. good morning to you. the _ time coming? it does, you are right. good morning to you. the headline i good morning to you. the headline that many of the 12,000 staff will not want to read this morning as this announcement probably brings to an end 2112 years of debenhams on our high streets in towns and cities around the country. it is worth remembering that debenhams is often what is known as an anchor tenant, a big draw too many high streets and shopping centres around the country. those stores, we believe, will not reopen as a result of this deal with boohoo. they will pay £55 million for the brand but they will not take on any of the stock, any of the stores and crucial

ben thompson reporting there. the chancellor, rishi sunak, has defended the government's economic response to the pandemic, after borrowing hit a record high for december. more than £34 billion was needed by the government last month to help pay for covid support. borrowing for this financial year has now reached more than £270 billion. here's our economics correspondent, andy verity. if you look at the amount that's been borrowed this financial year, in other words, from april to december, as you mentioned, it's up to £270 billion. that's more than four times as much as it was last year, and if you look at the amount of debt taken on. so, just to explain, the government, if it spends more than its income, like the rest of us, it has to borrow the difference. then, of course, each year if it has to borrow the difference, that piles up to debts. so, the debt has increased to £2.1 trillion and that's just a tiny little bit less than the total value of everything we produce in a year, the whole size of the econom

ben thompson is on oxford street in central london for us this morning. a very quiet 0xford a very quiet oxford street. we are getting used to that. trying to find some good news, there was not much, a tiny increase in retail sales in december. did the volume of sales shifter november perhaps as people were trying to get their christmas shopping done well in advance? yeah. shopping done well in advance? yeah, there are some _ shopping done well in advance? yeah, there are some glimmers _ shopping done well in advance? yeah, there are some glimmers of— shopping done well in advance? tc—t there are some glimmers of good news in this but as you said pretty tough reading for any retailers right now but perhaps no great surprise. we know nonessential retail was closed for a good chunk of the year so even if he wanted to go out and shop you could not. the good news is for any retailer that had an online presence they did pretty well. the proportion of sales we get online was up by about 45% over the course of the year, suggesting because we couldn't get out

our business presenter ben thompson explained more. the numbers are what tells us the story of who and how people are affected by the changes in the jobs market as a result of this pandemic. so to take that headline figure you said there, rising to 5%, it doesn't seem like a significant increase coming from 4.9% in the period before. but it does mean that 1.72 million people are out of work. that is a jump 418,000 on the same time last year. that in itself is the biggest annual increase in unemployment since the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009. and remember that is coming in a context of the jobs market that is being artificially supported by that furlough scheme. the government picking up the bill for people who cannot go to work. it's about 4.5 million people still on the furlough scheme. and so the expectation is that things will get worse, as that support starts to be reduced. there is pressure on the government to commit to extending that furlough scheme way beyond its current expiry date at the end of april, and so what we are

let's talk to our business presenter ben thompson. so, that is it for debenhams on the high street, then?— high street, then? yes, victoria, ou are high street, then? yes, victoria, you are right- — high street, then? yes, victoria, you are right. it _ high street, then? yes, victoria, you are right. it feels _ high street, then? yes, victoria, you are right. it feels like - high street, then? yes, victoria, you are right. it feels like the - high street, then? yes, victoria, | you are right. it feels like the end of the road as far as those big department stores on high streets up and down the uk are concerned because now 2112 years after the first one opened, it seems that those staff will no longer be going to those stores. customers will find they have to shop online if they are to find those brands. what has happened is boohoo has paid £55 million for the retailer but, as you say, it will not take on the stores or its stock or staff. it really is a theme that is common across the high street at the moment, that big tradition

our breakfast colleague ben thompson has been reflecting on how the uk economy, businesses, and jobs have been changed by the pandemic. i've struggled getting out of bed some days, because what do you do with yourself when your whole world is turned upside down? we lost 90% of our revenue overnight. 2020 was the year that changed just about everything. the coronavirus pandemic affected how we live and how we work. it upended our social lives, changed our shopping habits and impacted how and where we could travel. i think this is by far the biggest crisis we have ever faced and clearly requires us to take very quick and deep action. for the country, it led to the biggest economic slump in a generation causing thousands of people to lose their jobs across the uk. and so, as we grapple with its impacts on our lives and our livelihoods, we will assess how long it could take for the country to recover. and amid all of this turmoil, we wonder whether covid has given us reason to stop, to reassess, and perhaps to do things differently. people realise that they can actually work from home, t

our business presenter ben thompson said that people across the travel industry would be asking the government how their plans would actually work. whilst the uk says this will come into force next week, we still have a lot of unanswered questions. we don't know exactly what date, we don't know which tests will be accepted, which clinics will be able to administer those tests. what happens, for example, if you are overseas and you submit your test but it does not come back in time for your flight? what if it does come back and it is positive, what do you do then? do you stay in the country, at the airport? do you have a hotel to stay at? big questions about that. and also of course big questions over capacity as well because, look, international travel is down significantly. heathrow airport and airports across the country are operating at a much reduced capacity, not least because we are in these lockdown restrictions where international travel is all but ruled out. but if we are able to get out of these lockdown restrictions and resume some sort of travel, will the system cope? will there be

earlier, our business presenter, ben thompson told me about the deal. security chiefs in the netherlands meet today to discuss a response to a weekend of protests in defiance of a new 9pm curfew. one of the worst outbreaks of violence was in the southern city of eindhoven, where some protesters threw fireworks and smashed windows. the mayor there said the country was heading for civil war. there were also clashes in amsterdam. there were also protests in denmark at the weekend. hundreds of people joined a mass anti—lockdown demonstration in copenhagen. police were out in force, and up to nine people were arrested. denmark has introduced new travel restrictions. in france — the top scientific adviser says the country probably needs a third coronavirus lockdown. earlier this month, france brought forward the start of its nightly curfew to 6pm, but since then, the average number of new infections has increased from 18,000 per day to more than 20,000. millions of parents and children are about to start a fourth week of home schooling. while it seems inc