this is bbc news, i'm lukwesa burak. the headlines at 7: thejustice secretary defends the government potentially breaking international law over changes to the brexit withdrawal agreement. this is a collective will on the part of the government not just to prepare for the worst, but also to protect the internal workings of our united kingdom. that is responsible government. concern from care home providers over access to the government's coronavirus testing programme as infections rise. a stretch of the ms has been closed in gloucestershire after a serious collision involving several vehicles. 17,000 people have been participating in a virtual version of the great north run which was cancelled because of the pandemic.

and coming up at 7:45pm, it's the film review with mark kermode. he'll have the lowdown on the latest releases, so stay with us for that. the justice secretary, robert buckland, has defended government plans to potentially override elements of the brexit withdrawal agreement signed with the european union. the proposal, which would break international law, would give number 10 the power to change or ignore rules relating to the movement of goods between britain and northern ireland. mr buckland said it was an emergency brexit insurance policy if brussels acted in an unreasonable way

by insisting on excessive checks on goods. here's our chief political correspondent, vicki young. a lot‘s changed since brexit day. crowds can no longer gather, but once again the arguments are raging about our relationship with the eu. four years ago, these two former prime ministers campaigned against brexit. today, they criticised the government for making plans to override parts of the legally binding treaty which laid out the terms of our departure. writing in the sunday times, sirjohn major and tony blair said that was irresponsible, wrong in principle and dangerous in practice. "it raises questions that go far beyond the impact on ireland, the peace process and negotiations for a trade deal, crucial though they are. it questions the very integrity of our nation". government ministers say it's just an insurance policy in case negotiations with the eu don't work out. we hope very much never to have to use this.

it's a "break the glass in emergency" provision if we need it. but they're not denying that giving uk ministers the power to change the withdrawal agreement breaks international law. how could anyjustice secretary stand by and let that happen? is that the moment that robert buckland resigns from the government, if we break international law itself? if i see the rule of law being broken in a way that i find unacceptable, then of course i will go. we are not at that stage. eu and uk negotiators are working on two things — a future trade deal and the trade details of unique arrangements for northern ireland, which will continue to follow some eu rules. and here's a sign of how tense things have become. taking to twitter, michel barnier pointed out that borisjohnson had himself agreed to what he called the delicate compromise. david frost complained that the eu's position meant northern ireland might not be allowed to import food from the rest of the uk. ireland's foreign minister angrily

dismissed that as spin and said borisjohnson‘s actions were undermining trust. the british government, in my view, is behaving in an extraordinary way, and british people need to know that because, outside of britain, where this issue is being discussed now, the reputation of the uk and britain as a trusted negotiating partner on important issues like this is being damaged in a very serious way. tomorrow, the action returns to parliament. several conservative mps have said they can't support a bill that breaks the law. this all echoes the arguments of a year ago. criticism from lawyers, the eu and former prime ministers is unlikely to change downing street's mind. vicki young, bbc news, westminster. and we'll find out how this story and many others are covered in tomorrow's front pages at 10:30pm and 11:30pm in the papers. 0ur guestsjoining me

tonight are joe twyman, co—founder and director of @deltapolluk, and the broadcaster yasmin alibhai—brown. a charity that represents care providers in england says the government's coronavirus testing regime has had serious problems. it comes just days after the department of health and social care wrote to care home providers, warning of a rise in new coronavirus infections within homes. the letter acknowledged it was mainly staff being affected, but also said some residents are testing positive too. 0ur social affairs correspondent, alison holt, has more details. in care homes like this one in manchester, they have already had a long and exhausting fight against coronavirus. in april, they lost nine residents. but with careful infection control like this and increased testing, they have managed to keep it out of the home over the summer. if there is a second wave,

quick testing will be vital in identifying people without symptoms and keeping residents safe. but mark adams, who heads a charity that runs 18 uk care homes including this one, says in recent weeks they have had problems getting results in about 40% of their tests. at the moment, we are getting the kits for weekly testing, but the results are coming five, six or seven days after the test was taken. so, if someone does catch covid, they could perhaps be in the building for three or four days without even being aware. as the infection rate rises out here in the wider community, inevitably, care homes are going to feel the impact. on friday, the department for health and social care sent a letter to care bosses warning that they were beginning to see a rise in cases in care homes. the majority were staff who had become infected, but some residents had also contracted the virus. it is also reported

in the sunday times today that infections in care homes have quadrupled since the start of the month. as demand for tests rises in the general population, care providers say it's vital that the care sector is made a priority. i think the testing regime has had serious problems and i want the government to prioritise care services. we saw at the start of this pandemic that people living in care homes were the most susceptible to the virus, so i hope that they will realise that and start prioritising the testing in care homes. the department for health and social care says it has done everything it can to ensure the safety of residents and staff since the start of the pandemic and that it will publish its winter plan for social care shortly. alison holt, bbc news. well, the latest government figures show there were 3,330 new coronavirus infections recorded

in the latest 24—hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week is 3,050. five deaths were reported of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—i9 test, and that means, on average in the last week, 11 deaths were announced every day, taking the total number across the uk to 41,628. we will have more on coronavirus cases across the later. the current situations in liverpool and also in bradford. major restaurant groups have written to the government, asking for an extension of the ban on evicting tenants which expires at the end of this month. the bosses of deliveroo, burger king and itsu say one in three landlords

are preparing evictions. a stretch of the ms has been closed in gloucestershire after a serious collision which involved two lorries and a car. the highways agency says the stretch will probably stay closed until tomorrow morning. there's no news yet on whether anyone was hurt in the accident. alice bouverie reports from gloucetershire. in the predawn hour of a quiet sunday morning, a horrible accident on the m5. ray knight was working on his farm and heard it all unfold. it was about 5:40am, got up this morning, put the kettle on to make a cup of tea, opened the back door and then there was a great big bang followed a few minutes later by a second bang. and then my son came down and he just said, there's something strange going on. i said, what do you mean? he said, in the distance, there is black smoke billowing up. i went outside and, about ten minutes later,

we heard a third one and, by that point, you could see the black smoke and there was a glow in the sky which i presume was the fire. the police were called to reports a ford fiesta had come off the motorway. they say a lorry parked behind the car to offer help and protect it, but then it appears a supermarket delivery lorry came up and crashed into the back of the first one which was then destroyed by fire. we don't know the full details of what happened to start this incident so early this morning although there are some marks on the road which suggest that, at some point, a vehicle has veered quite sharply from the middle lane. but what we do know is that the resulting explosions were heard in villages several miles away. the motorway was closed in both directions for over six hours. the southbound carriageway finally opened at midday, the cars led through by traffic officers. because of the damage caused by the fire, highways england says the northbound carriageway will be closed until tomorrow morning for resurfacing work, sending

traffic on a 23—mile diversion. alice bouverie, bbc points west, tredington. teenagers convicted of terrorism in england and wales could receive whole—life terms under sentencing reforms, described by the government as the most radical in almost 20 years. currently, a life tariff can only be given to those over the age of 21, but the justice secretary, robert buckland, says he plans to reduce this to 18 for exceptional cases, such as terrorism. nazanin zaghari—ratcliffe, the british—iranian woman jailed for spying in iran, has not been taken to court to face new charges, as she'd been expecting. the foreign office said it welcomed the deferral of the hearing and said they call on iran to make nazanin‘s release permanent so that she can return to herfamily in the uk.

nazanine‘s husband, richard ratcliffe, is with us. thank you for your time this evening which is a stressful time. how is nazanin? thank you. it has been a day of uncertainty for us. we were expecting to be in court this morning so she was really terrified before it happened this morning then she did not go to court, we are trying to understand what went on, as the day has gone on she was relieved and really angry and not quite what is going on. i spoke to her now and she is a bit calmer. but all in all, it's clear there is a very confusing game between two governments going on that is taking a toll. do you know what the charges we re a toll. do you know what the charges were that were going to be levelled against her? her lawyer got to see the file. she was taken to see the judge last week and the lawyer saw

the file to prepare the case yesterday with her. the case for spreading propaganda against the regime, so we knew that was coming, he felt confident it was a very light trial so he was confident he would get her off. i was less confident. we have had an of these cases come before us and it feels much the time like a political stu nt. much the time like a political stunt. but we will see what happens and when she is next brought into court. how are you doing? i have found this quite hard. it came out of the blue that she was going to be in court on tuesday and the fact it did not happen today, we were all worked up and fearing the worst and certainly she had been talking about panic attacks and myjob is to keep calm and hopeful. it is tough at the moment. you mentioned a political stu nt, moment. you mentioned a political stunt, what do you mean by that? all

along, this has been a game of cat and mouse between the iranian authorities in the british government, and they are using nazanin as leveraged to get the money they are owed. that has been true for a long time and for this past week. that does not mean to say there will not be a real court case with the real sentence but it's not about us but the governments. this is money that goes back to a 50—year—old arms contract between britain and iran. the iranian and british governments have denied that this is what it is all about. what are they telling you, what are the british government telling you? the iranian government doesn't talk to us iranian government doesn't talk to us very much. we are in touch closely with the british government to find out what is going on. we push them hard to say, if this goes to trial you have to insist on being there and you're right for consular access and they have pushed hard and over the course of the past few days

they are telling us the case will be a short trail and she might not even need to go. beyond that, we will sit down in the next week and try to understand what on earth is going on. when jeremy hunt was foreign secretary, i understand he placed her under a diplomatic protection status, does she still have that and what does that give her? that is exactly right,. what does that give her? that is exactly right, . it's what does that give her? that is exactly right,. it's a fairly part —— microbes good part of international law but any abuse are treated as abuses by the british straight. and once it's invoked you cannot un—invoke it so it means it is much harderfor the iranian authorities to refuse access or they can't refuse for her to be visited and that is why they rethought this court case. is that even recognised by tehran? they don't recognise it,

they don't get a choice. the logic of it is there is a dispute mechanism to try to resolve the dispute and if that fails or goes to court. we have been pushing the government. part of what the discussions have been is to see the invoke the second court case. we need to stand up. nazanin, her sentence began in 2016, she is due for release next spring. how do you feel about the certainty of that, that she will be released? there is no certainty at all. the most obvious reason for invoking a second court case on the part of the iranian authorities was to create a mechanism by which they could hold her beyond next spring. it's a good thing it has not gone to court today, but it has not gone away, and

certainly if the british government do not reach an understanding they reserve the right to add time on her sentence. clemency was given. is nazanin back at home her parents? she is back at home with her mum and dad with an ankle tag. last night, she was worried about being in prison, that hasn't happened, and as you say she was given clemency as pa rt you say she was given clemency as part of a wider group of people given clemency back in march but has not been implemented for her. her lawyer has said, why can't she be given clemency? just to clarify one more time, what will happen this week, what do you know will happen this week? i don't know it all, if i'm honest. it will go to the prosecutor's office. and they will

explain. that is the only thing that is clear at this point. thank you very much for your time. the headlines on bbc news... thejustice secretary defends the government potentially breaking international law over changes to the brexit withdrawal agreement. concern from care home providers over access to the government's coronavirus testing programme as infections rise. a stretch of the ms has been closed in gloucestershire after a serious collision involving several vehicles. at least 30 people have now died in wildfires that are engulfing the west coast of america across three states, destroying millions of acres of land. more than 20,000 firefighters are trying to beat back the flames. 0ur north america correspondent,

nomia iqbal, has more details. the fires have been unrelenting. more than 1 million acres of land have been burned here. around 40,000 people have left their homes and half a million are under evacuation orders. poor visibility has made it harder to get out, but many have fled to trailer parks where volunteers have been distributing food. but with the fires comes the challenge of covid—19. want to make sure everybody maintains social distance as much as possible. it is admittedly difficult in this environment, but we are going to try and organise feeding lines and things like that to maintain a six foot distance. in san francisco, the grey sky has turned hazy orange is the wildfires engulfed parts of california. i am trying to keep a positive attitude, but it's scary. one of those things like, you just have to take into consideration that you have

to be careful when you're breathing because you could be inhaling the smoke. california has never seen fires on this scale before. dozens have destroyed more than 3 million acres of land. even fire trucks are being shipped in to help with the world's largest plane arriving into san francisco, carrying at least three fire engines. the smoke is so thick it can be seen all the way from space. up close, the devastation is staggering. thousands of homes have been incinerated. some who have returned home here in oregon has been going through the rubble to find their belongings. 0thers guard theirs from potential looters. it's been a rough couple of days, but ijust didn't feel right leaving home. president trump will be arriving in california tomorrow. he will be meeting firefighters as they battle to put an end to fires like these,

which have been burning for weeks. nomia iqbal, bbc news, washington. more now on the criticism by former prime ministers tony blair and sirjohn major of boris johnson‘s plan to override parts of the brexit withdrawal agreement. with me is christopher hope, who's chief political correspondent and assistant editor at the daily telegraph. (guest 1)and also i'm joined byjoe mayes — uk politics and brexit reporter for bloomberg. joe, how do you think things will go in parliament? we have got the bill being put before parliament but also this amendment bill by bob neil. that's right, and the key question is whether enough conservatives will stick with boris johnson and is whether enough conservatives will stick with borisjohnson and help him pass this bill without amendments passing. the view is that they likely will, he has a

significant majority, but that amendment has received some support from some moderate conservatives and we heard this morning the labour party plans to vote against the bill and propose its own amendment so we will see a tasty week in parliament. how much support do you think boris johnson has got, chris?|j how much support do you think boris johnson has got, chris? i think he has got quite a lot. it's not the same as october 2019. it feels the same as october 2019. it feels the same to many people but in truth the numberon the np same to many people but in truth the number on the np side of it, it will be embarrassing, 20 or 30 tory mps might vote against the bill. it's ok starmer does. he said today that we need to get past this remain and leave row and move on. the big worry though in the lords where that place

out, there may be defeats in the lords and that could be a problem to get this passed by the end of september. joe, the prime minister obviously is saying that he is trying to keep the uk together, the eu is threatening to break it up, what do you make of that argument? we have had some pushback from michel barnier and also the dup. the withdrawal agreement and the northern ireland protocol did effectively establish a customs border in the irish sea and it's what boris johnson signed border in the irish sea and it's what borisjohnson signed up to in that agreement because he did not wa nt to that agreement because he did not want to border on the island of ireland so he kept northern ireland ina ireland so he kept northern ireland in a customs territory with the eu, so in a customs territory with the eu, so it seems rather strange to be claiming now that the agreement threatens the integrity of the uk when that is what he committed to by signing that deal. useful interesting spat publicly between michelle barnier and david frost over this question of a blockade on

the irish sea with borisjohnson claiming the eu has made this for it, michel barnier saying, claiming the eu has made this for it, michel barniersaying, no claiming the eu has made this for it, michel barnier saying, no we haven't, so a public war of words, and it shows the tensions in these talks. chris, you were going to say something there. i think what the government is doing is preparing for ano government is doing is preparing for a no deal. when this withdrawal agreement was signed up, the uk government hope there will be a deal that will replace parts of that which allow the eu to have low over northern ireland but because of the way the eu has behaved according to brexiteers this new law needs to allow britain we still have sovereignty over parts of the uk which is not part of northern ireland and that is why it is happening. so, really, it is a bright class an emergency situation which hopefully will not be required but this must go through this week. this will show there is real intent

this government is ready for a no deal and it may bring the eu round toa deal and it may bring the eu round to a deal which is acceptable to the uk. joe, do you think we will get to that point, will the eu... there has to be some middle ground. can ijust direct that to joe, please? the question is, does borisjohnson have the stomach to go for a no till brexit when at the end of this year we could have a second wave of covid, it could mean tariffs and questions around the border, disruption to supply chains. very concerned about that. it is still a question of political will, does johnson have the will to go for the outcome? we ultimately do not know. i think there is a 25% chance of a deal but that's enough to get one. the uk has to prepare for the fact that we are a sovereign nation, that's a fact he was unwilling to

give us the credit. and therefore why should the uk allow part of its territory to be ruled over by the eu in some small part? that is what is going on. and the reason why they are trying to find a new way of doing this is because there has been i'io doing this is because there has been no challenges from the eu side and that's why they are trying to prepare for a no deal situation. do you think this was a good strategy by boris johnson? chris?|j you think this was a good strategy by boris johnson? chris? ithink you think this was a good strategy by boris johnson? chris? i think so, i think it works. this is an extraordinary negotiation unlike anything we have seen in british history and i think therefore pushing the envelope was acceptable. i take the opposing view. this has soured relations with the eu at a point where to get a deal done that has set things back more than anything else. we will leave it there. thank you very much for your

time. back to more now on the worrying rise in coronavirus cases. across the uk almost a third a all new infections in the last 2a hours have been in the north west. government figures say there were 3,330 cases recorded with the region accounting for 906. it comes amid warnings tonight that liverpool is facing tighter coronavirus restrictions, as yunus mulla reports. for a city on the watch list, the site so many people will need to ask questions over social distancing and mixing, but what concerns health officials in liverpool is 100 more cases in the past 2a hours. that is a rate of around 80 per 100,000. other areas have faced tighter restrictions with this kind of infection level.

we will put the city in lockdown, if we cannot reduce those figures and everybody has to do the right thing but it may well be too late. from tomorrow, new rules will ban gatherings of more than six from different households. this weekend, everyone is going wild which makes zero sense but everyone is going wild because they want to have the last party. i have two children so it's preventing two families coming together. coronavirus will not stop this weekend, it will still be here, so why wait until monday? police forces across the region have been busy responding to calls here in greater manchester. they were called to more than 3000 incidents although not all were covid—related and a number of fines were issued for breaches of coronavirus regulations. in blackpool, the victoria hospital has reintroduced the restrictions because of a rise in covid—19 cases locally. with infection rates continuing

to rise, expect more restrictions to follow. parts of west yorkshire have some of the lowest test and trace rates in the country. in bradford, a team of local tracers have been hired. people who have had close contact with someone found to have covid—19 are being traced and asked to isolate. aisha iqbal has been speaking to a leeds woman who lost her father to the disease. catherine knows all about the importance of a proper functioning test and trace system. she lost her father to the virus and is now campaigning alongside hundreds of bereaved families for a full covid—19 inquiry. we need that really robust test and trace in place to save more people from the same tragedy that has happened to my family. 0ur death rate is the highest in europe and our case numbers are rising. if we had a world beating

test and trace system, cases would not be on the rise. test and trace is a simple idea and is one which has a crucial role in defeating the virus. bradford has hired a specialist team of local tracers who will also work door—to—door. we are finding that quite a lot of our population are not necessarily engaging as well as we thought with the national test and trace system so that the minute we have about 27% of people who test positive and are not contacted, and that is what we call lost to follow—up, and it can go up to more than 50% of people of contacts of positive cases who were not able to be contacted through the national system. how many times have i asked the government to pay for test and trace? they find money to fund a national test and trace but when it comes to local authorities the money is still not there. we should be able to pay for that as a local authority which is already stretched. the department of health told us that since the test and trace service relaunched three months ago

almost 360,000 people