this programme contains repetitive flashing images. tonight at ten, plans to further ease the coronavirus lockdown in england tomorrow, are put on hold, as infections rise. casinos and bowling alleys will stay shut, wedding receptions for up to 30 people are off, and face coverings become mandatory in more places. we cannot be complacent, and i won't stand by and allow this virus to threaten to cause more pain and more heartache in our country. rising infections mean new restrictions on gatherings for millions in northern england, as many prepare for the eid celebration. disappointing. anger at the lack of notice, really. and i think the timing, more than anything else.

england's chief medical officer says we may have reached the limits in opening up society, while keeping the virus under control. also tonight... three teenagers are jailed for the manslaughter of pc andrew harper, who died after being dragged behind a getaway car in a failed robbery. 30 years after iraq's invasion of kuwait, john simpson reflects on a conflict that changed the world. # we could've been anything that we wanted to be... one of britain's most acclaimed film directors, i'm absolutely stunned. and, glenda jackson at the virtual baftas, leads the winners celebrating the best of british television. and coming up on bbc news, the government call of permitting crowds into sporting test events for two weeks, including snooker‘s world championship, which started today.

good evening. tomorrow's plans to further ease england's coronavirus lockdown have been put on hold, because of a rise in the rate of infections. borisjohnson says it's now time to "squeeze the brake pedal" on any further relaxation of the rules, warning that the country shouldn't be complacent. the prime minister now says face coverings should be worn in more places where people can come into contact with others they don't know. bowling alleys, skating rinks and casinos won't be reopening tomorrow as planned, and certain beauty treatments involving the face won't be allowed for at least two weeks. wedding receptions of up to 30 people, and indoor musical and theatrical performances won't be allowed either, and the public will have to wear face coverings in cinemas, museums and galleries,

as well as places of worship, from august 8th. england's chief medical officer, professor chris whitty, says the country has "probably reached" the limits of what can be done in opening up society, with infections now rising. here's our political correspondent leila nathoo. poised to stage a performance for the first time in months — this venue in london was due to open its doors tomorrow. 80 seats, normally 180, and now we can't open. and that's a huge financial hit for us at the phoenix. businesses still closed across england have been waiting for the next phase of unlocking to begin, but now, with cases of coronavirus on the rise again, the prime minister pressing pause. at every point, i have said our plan to reopen society and the economy is conditional, that it relies on continued progress against the virus, and we would not hesitate to put the brakes on if required. with those numbers creeping up, our assessment is that we should now

squeeze that brake pedal. and so... on saturday the ist of august, we had hoped to reopen in england a number of higher—risk settings that had remained closed, and today i am afraid we are postponing those changes for at least a fortnight. boris johnson acknowledging the disruption this will cause. i know the steps we are taking will be a real blow to many people, and i am really, really sorry about that, but we simply cannot take the risk. that apology aimed at people like luke and vicky, whose wedding reception in chorley, already slimmed down, has now been cancelled. you have dreams of what your wedding will look like, and they've already been shattered so, once we heard about this a week before our wedding, it was devastating and obviously very upsetting. although employers are still being encouraged to think about how to get people back to work,

and advice on shielding will still come to an end, face coverings will now be required in more places, like galleries, cinemas and museums. how worried are you that this is going to turn into a surge, and why is it that we find ourselves in this position, because the government's message has been unclear and inconsistent, or are we all to blame? we are now seeing a warning light on the dashboard. it is right to respond in the way that we are. the answer lies with all of us following that guidance. but, from a man who's always struck a cautious tone, a stark warning about the challenges to come. we've probably reached near the limits or the limits of what we can do in terms of opening up society, so what that potentially means is, if we wish to do more things in future, we may have to do less of some other things, and these will be difficult trade—offs. as well asjuggling what is happening nationally, targeted local restrictions,

like those imposed in parts of northern england last night, are here to stay. scotland's first minister now advising against all but essential travel to the affected areas. we see this as being an important and necessary precaution. our advice is, of course, designed to minimise the risk of spread from england into scotland, but also to assist people in these parts of england. and labour questioning how the message was relayed. right decision, very poor communication. it has to improve. we are going to see more of these situations in the coming weeks and months and the government needs to learn the lesson of the last 24 hours, which is to improve communication. still empty spaces, still tables unfilled. the government says it's now up to us to stick closely to the rules so lockdown easing can resume. leila nathoo, bbc news.

well, four million people living in communities in northern england, now have to abide by strict new measures which came into effect today. people living in greater manchester, and in parts of east lancashire and west yorkshire, can no longer visit another household, in their home or garden. support bubbles are exempt from this rule and the police will have the power of enforcement. you can still go to pubs, restaurants and shops in the affected areas, as well as places of worship but only with your own household. the tougher rules follow a jump in new infections in the past week in almost every part of greater manchester, as our north of england correspondent judith moritz reports now from 0ldham. in central manchester tonight, you could hardly tell that restrictions have been tightened. the bars were bursting. but under the new rules in this area, socialising from people with other household isn't allowed, and scenes like this may be upsetting for those who have had to cancel their plans. in 0ldham, the ali family were supposed to be

visiting relatives for eid. now the party would be illegal under gas not coming. its devastating a few hours before eid starts, being told you can't do anything. do you think the timing was chosen because of eid, to stop large gatherings? yes, we do feel it is quite unfair. but we feel like it has been quite insensitive of the people making the decision. it is the short notice that has really triggered people. and it's not just celebrations at really triggered people. and it's notjust celebrations at home which are affected, but the chance to party elsewhere with friends. at night i would have probably gone with my mates in manchester. but it looks like their plans have changed as well and we are going to have to stay inside. over in bradford, community elders are not questioning the restrictions, but they are angry at the last minute timing. i'll paint you a scenario, it is 9.30 on christmas eve, you have put the

turkey in the oven, and then you see a twitter feed which is telling you that christmas is cancelled. yeah, disappointing. anger at the lack of notice, really. what here in 0ldham, the infection rate has risen more sharply in the last week than anywhere else. it is now more than ten times the average in england. there have been sharp rises in other communities, too. local leaders say they have accepted the restrictions, but criticised the government communications, saying that local people feel confused and distressed. we would strongly recommend to the government that the time a public or media statement is made, affecting any area across the country, it must then follow that detailed information is immediately available at the same time as the making of that statement, in a public arena. there has been criticism from both

the police and politicians of those young people who are continuing to socialise in groups, and concern about increasing infection rates amongst young adults. in manchester city centre tonight, that mixed —— met with a mixed response.“ city centre tonight, that mixed —— met with a mixed response. if you look around, you can see why we have a spike in manchester because people have been socialising. it is hard to stop people doing that as soon as you open restaurants and bars.|j understand it and i am currently adhering to it. i haven't got a problem at all, i understand and trust the government. we are staying in the same house tonight. we have been staying together for the past couple of days. you know it is against the rules if you are from different houses? yeah, but we came together before lockdown and then lockdown happened. we are quite a socially responsible generation, we wa nt to socially responsible generation, we want to make sure our parents and grandparents are safe. we are worried as well, none of us are not worried. back in oldham, the ali

family may not be able to celebrate eid as they wanted, but they are not letting that stop them from staying in touch. even online, they are determined to be together. in the latest 2a hour period, another 120 more people have died after testing positive for the coronavirus in the uk, taking the total number of deaths to 46,119. the uk's seven day rolling average is 753, and you can see from the chart that cases have been rising slightly in the past week. scientists don't know whether that's because of more and better testing, or if it's the beginning of a resurgence in infections, as we've been seeing elsewhere in europe. two dozen areas are now on public health england's watchlists due to the rise infection rates. here's our science editor david shukman. relaxing the lockdown is not going to happen as quickly as many had hoped. we're not on the brink of returning to the toughest restrictions. the scale of the disease

is too low for that, but the virus does seem once again to be reaching a growing number of people. the latest estimates for infections in england, which are always higher than the cases actually confirmed by testing, show a rise from 2,000 a day at the end ofjune to 3,000 in mid—july, to 4,200 more recently. and one government adviser, speaking personally, says he's concerned. i think we need to be much more cautious. we need to adhere to best practice. and i do worry that, if it gets out of control, it could trigger another second wave quite early, which we really don't want. and if this had happened in october, i think that would've been an unstoppable event. we're nowhere near the scale of infections we saw at the height of the pandemic back in march and april, but there are now more than 20 areas of concern, including those in the north—west that had new restrictions imposed on them last night.

top of that list is 0ldham, along with trafford and salford. over the border in wales, wrexham has a relatively high 61 cases per 100,000 people, but that is down a bit from the week before. in scotland, with a low level of infections, glasgow's had three new cases over the last seven days. likewise in northern ireland, where there's a handful of cases in lisburn and castlereagh. this comes at a time of changing messages from the government on how to keep a safe distance and whether to stay at home. experts in behaviour say a much clearer guide is needed. the government strategy seems to be haphazard and responsive rather than strategic. it's leaving people confused as to what they should and shouldn't be doing and confused as to what's coming next. 0ne measure we will see more of is face coverings. they'll be required in more places. a reminder, in these more

nervous times, of how, until there's a vaccine, there aren't many ways to stop the virus from spreading. david shukman, bbc news. in wales, swimming pools, gyms, leisure centres and indoor play areas will be allowed to reopen from the 10th august. up to 30 people can meet outdoors and children under 11 won't have to social distance from monday. licensed wedding venues will be able to reopen from monday, but receptions will need to be outdoors. but first minister mark drakeford admitted that new lockdown restrictions in the north—west of england had given him "pause for thought". in a moment, we'll hear from our political correspondent, leila nathoo at westminster, but first to our health correspondent, lauren moss, who's here. the chief medical officer says we may have reached a limit of the kind of easing we can go through while this virus is still out there. there is plenty of evidence giving him the feeling that should be the case.

cla p feeling that should be the case. clap that's right, chris whitty said the idea could open everything back up the idea could open everything back eping the idea could open everything back up keeping the virus under control wrong, and he said there would be difficult trade—offs ahead, and we we re difficult trade—offs ahead, and we were always warned this could happen as we emerged from lockdown, as human behaviour changes, people are mixing more together, and that's when the virus spreads. as we heard in david's piece, the rate of infection is nowhere near what it was at the pandemic‘s peak, cases are climbing, up about a quarter on two weeks ago, and tonight the who emergency committee has called the pandemic a once in a century health crisis. it heard that many countries who thought they were past the worst are now grappling with fresh outbreaks, so experts here will be keeping a close eye on what is happening elsewhere in europe, with 1300 confirmed new places in france in 24 hours, 1500 in spain, more than 800 here, and scientists say we are than 800 here, and scientists say we a re close than 800 here, and scientists say we are close to the tipping point at which the infection could increase

here. it's not known yet how effective local lockdowns and tougher restrictions will be. in leicester, it seems to be working and cases are coming down, but it still early days for those measures and, if cases come up, as they might do, the number of things we will be able to do will come down. lets talk to leila nathoo at westminster. in the final analysis, the easing of the lockdown, it is a political decision, and it's obviously a difficult one that the government has to take.|j obviously a difficult one that the government has to take. i think the picture is now more complex in terms of these now competing aims of trying to suppress the virus while opening up. we know we have reached the point at which we are about as far as we could go if we want to pursue both of those, and i think the difficulty is that the message is getting more nuanced. a fortnight ago, borisjohnson was talking about ago, borisjohnson was talking about a path back to a significant normality by christmas. there was more of a sense of optimism, more of

a sense of a way forward. now you have concerns about a spike in infections in europe and the impact of that, you have different restrictions being reimposed and released in different areas of the country, and then you have this rolling back of the unlocking across england, so i think the picture is definitely more tricky. i think the government has always said that everything would be dependent on keeping infection levels down. they said they would have to react quickly to an evolving picture of the stop i think, as we start to see the stop i think, as we start to see the effects of unlocking playing out, there will be many more difficult choices to come. leila nathoo at westminster. the teenage driver of a getaway car involved in dragging to his death pc andrew harper in berkshire last summer has been jailed for 16 years for manslaughter. two passengers in the car, who are both 18, were jailed for 13 years. the teenagers were attempting to steal a quad bike, when pc harper responded to the 999 call. helena wilkinson was in court

and her report contains some flashing images. andrew and lissie harper were married for less than a month when he was killed. today, she was in court with family to see those responsible jailed for their crimes — jessie cole, henry long and albert bowers. this is cole and bowers laughing after their first court appearance. i've got four masked men outside my house, and they've got weapons. they're stealing my quad bike. this is the 999 call about the theft of a quad bike that pc harper had been responding to with a colleague. the officers soon came across the teenagers' car. jessie cole quickly unhooked the bike. through the rear—view camera, you can see his legs as he tries to escape, followed by pc harper, who got caught at that moment in the towrope. sentencing the teenagers, mrjustice edis said they "had killed a talented and brave young officer who was going above and

beyond his duty in order to provide a public service". pc harper's widow, lissie harper, read a victim impact statement to court. she said... these are three people who i do not believe have ever shown an ounce of genuine remorse or contrition for their actions. they did their best to frustrate the police investigation. the judge said there was nothing he could do to restore andrew harper to his loving wife or family and they had the profound sympathy of the whole nation.