Nadine Dorries, the culture secretary, has denied threatening to cut the BBC’s funding because she thought the Today presenter Nick Robinson did not show Boris Johnson sufficient respect in an interview. (See 3.10pm.) During wide-ranging, and at times confrontational, exchanges with the committee, Dorries defended herself over past, offensive tweets about the LBC journalist James O’Brien (see 4.20pm and 4.42pm), retracted a comment she made at the Tory conference about how the BBC might not survive another 10 years (see 4.01pm) and criticised the Brit Awards for their decision to get rid of gendered categories. (See 3.39pm.) She also denied claims that her department had altered the Ofcom chairmanship job description to make it easier for Paul Dacre, the former Daily Mail editor, to get selected if he applied a second time. (Last week he announced he was withdrawing anyway.) Referring to the new job description, Dorries said: “It was actually not altered as such but it was made to be more diverse and broader so that we could attract a range of broader and more diverse candidates.” The hospitality sector in Scotland has welcomed the Scottish government’s decision not to extend the vaccine passport scheme. Instead the current scheme will be marginally relaxed, in that from 6 December people will be able to access nightclubs or large events not just by showing evidence of vaccination (as now), but by alternatively showing evidence of a recent negative lateral flow test. (See 2.42pm.) Paul Togneri of the Scottish Beer and Pub Association said his members were pleased the scheme was not being extended to cover all hospitality. He said: Scotland’s pubs and bars have breathed a great sigh of relief with the first minister’s statement today. We have been in close dialogue with ministers, officials and public health discussing the potential economic impact and the operational practicalities extending the scheme would have entailed. We are thankful to them for listening to us and in doing so, may have averted an economic disaster for many businesses this Christmas. The Northern Ireland executive has strenghtened its work from home guidance in response to rising Covid transmission rates. Sajid Javid, the health secretary, has claimed that it is “highly unlikely” that poorer people could lose as much as £86,000 (the theoretical maximum) under the plans for a cap on social care costs approved by MPs last night. In a letter to the Commons Treasury committee, Javid said it was “highly unlikely that anybody within the means test would deplete their assets to anywhere near that maximum level”. He said that was because of the amount of time people normally need to spend in a care home. On average, 45% of people live for less than a year after moving into a care home, and more than 70% of people survive for less than three years, according to DHSC analysis. Boris Johnson is physically well and has a full grasp on the prime ministership, Downing Street has said following his rambling speech to business leaders on Monday in which he lost his place for about 20 seconds. French fishers are set to take action within days, including blocking road and sea freight bound for the UK through Calais and other Channel ports, as a months-long dispute over licences to operate in British waters intensifies.