the coronavirus testing problems will take weeks to resolve says the health secretary, with the system is facing an "enormous challenge". thousands of people across the uk are struggling to get tests and results after a sharp rise in demand. it's been very stressful, very frustrating. we are still waiting on the results, still self—isolating, not able to go to school, not able to go to work. the pinch point is the laboratories which are struggling with demand. the government is looking to prioritise those most in need. over the summer, when demand was low, we were able to meet all requirements for testing, whether priorities or not. but, as demand has risen, so we are having to prioritise once again. the home secretary says families stopping to chat and mingle

in the street could be breaking the rule of six in england. the uk's unemployment rate has risen for the first time since lockdown in march — with young people particularly hard hit. the bbc‘s star salaries revealed — gary lineker takes a £400,000 pay cut as radio 2's zoe ball shoots up the list with well over £1 million. and a dire warning from the united nations — humanity is at a crossroads and action is needed now for nature to recover. and coming up on bbc news, spectators are back at some venues but others are on the brink of bankruptcy. will the government throw them a lifeline? we will have the latest.

good evening and welcome to the bbc news at six. the health secretary for england, matt hancock, has told mps that problems with coronavirus testing will continue for a number of weeks and tests will have to be rationed because of a sharp rise in demand with priority will be given to those in healthcare and care homes. mr hancock insisted the government was still managing to deliver a record number of tests. hospital bosses in england have warned that nhs staff are having to stay off work because they can't get tested. our health correspondent, dominic hughes, reports from greater manchester. them across the country, tales of frustration, infuriating hours spent buying to get a test and anxious days waiting for results. these are stories from the testing system that seems far from world beating. he was sent home last wednesday due to covid symptoms and persistent cough, no tests over wednesday, kept trying to book during the day and he was given the same place that some of my

pa rents given the same place that some of my parents have been suggested to go to like aberdeen and landed now. apart from being miles away they are in scotla nd from being miles away they are in scotland and wales and we are in lancashire. if you don't spend all day on the site, i don't think we have a chance. when i see the tests appear, there is only about 20. i'm sure that more than 20 people in the bristol area need tests. when we have gone to get a test there has been no one there. i know that it has a capacity thing. it has been very stressful. it took nine days to get e—mail confirmation or a text message about the results of that test which meant that, during that time, we have not been able to see my patients face to face, and the whole thing has been incredibly frustrating and challenging. sheffield —— this sheffield gp is now back at work but the nine day wait he experienced for test results does not bode well for winter. our practice manager was on the phone to try to find out about results. it

has been a challenging time. we have not had the peak of the winter months yet. delays in testing are not helping a health service already under intense pressure. we are absolutely at full pelt in the nhs at the moment trying to recover the services where treatment was understandably but unfortunately delayed because of covid a few months ago. we are trying to get through those cases as quickly as possible and we cannot spare members of staff waiting for tests. ministers say they are putting extra resources into testing centres in covid hotspots like trafford in greater manchester. that might rely ca ptu re greater manchester. that might rely capture some of the difficulties people are experiencing in booking a test back from right across the country, stories are emerging of people waiting days before finding an available slot, or being sent to testing centres hundreds of miles away. labour says the unanswered questions over the government handling of testing are piling up.

when will ill people no longer have to travel hundreds of miles for a test that should be available on their doorstep? when will pupils and teachers and the school get access to testing so that they can get back to testing so that they can get back to school? everyone in this house knows we are doing more testing per head of population than almost any other major nation, and i can update the house that we have carried out over 20 million tests for coronavirus in this country. in towns like old ham, coronavirus in this country. in towns like oldham, infection rates remain stubbornly high and testing should play a vital part in getting those numbers down but that system looks like it is struggling. dominic hughes, bbc news. so what is going wrong with the testing system? and where do the main problems lie? here's our health editor, hugh pym. testing centres like this one today can sometimes look quiet, so people are asking what is the big problem? why is it some time so difficult to book a test? there seem to be enough testing sites, but there are

bottlenecks in the laboratories for processing the swabs taken. that is why they are limiting the amount of slots for the public just when why they are limiting the amount of slots for the publicjust when more people want to get tested. testing capacity, which is how much the labs can handle, was rising untiljune, but then it flattened out a bit before increasing recently. it now stands at more than 243,000 tests a day. the number of tests actually processed, reflecting demand, has been increasing steadily, and the gap, whilst closing, now stands at around 2006000 a day. you always need a bit of spare capacity but thatis need a bit of spare capacity but that is fast being eaten up. demand for testing has risen partly because children are back at school and there is a strong focus on safety and reducing risk. if you have an individual case dot when scotland was not clinical director says that with lockdown easing and society opening up a greater need for testing was inevitable. as you open, more people are out and about so you

would expect more symptoms but you have to let schools back so we prioritise schools at the expense of some other elements of society, so i am not surprised we are seeing increased testing demand, we have just got to try and balance the supply and demand. so where is the uk laboratory testing capacity? first of all there are nhs and public health labs analysing tests for staff and patients, about 72,400 processed in one recent day. then there are new government run lighthouse labs and privately run centres, handling tests for social ca re centres, handling tests for social care staff and residents and the public, about 133,300, in a day. the big lighthouse labs carry out work for all of the uk nations. there have been reports that they are overstretched, with staff shortages. there have been calls for explanations. we must recognise it has been a massive expansion in capacity in recent weeks. but

nonetheless, there is a crisis at the moment in many schools, and hospitals, who cannot function in the way that they need to without these test results, so it is vital that the health secretary does solve this problem. ministers say that the nhs and social care will be prioritised for tests, with the problems across the system unlikely to be fully resolved for a few weeks. hugh pym, bbc news. all this comes as the uk records its lowest weekly death toll since march, with under 100 covid—19 deaths in the past seven days. meanwhile, the latest daily government figures out this afternoon show there were 3,105 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 3,096. 27 deaths were reported, of people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test, and that means on average in the last week, 11 deaths were announced every day,

taking the total number, across the uk, to 41,664. the home secretary, priti patel, has said she would call the police if her neighbours were hosting a party that broke the new coronavirus restrictions. under the "rule of six", which came into force yesterday, social gatherings of more than six people are now illegal in england. the home secretary also suggested that families stopping to talk talk in the street could be breaking the new laws too. jon kay reports. the kind of afternoon when you might stop in the sun and chat with friends stop but what if you are now breaking the law? if you saw a bunch of six friends over there now, and they said, come and join us, but it ta kes they said, come and join us, but it takes it to seven, would you go and chat to them? of course i would. you're not going to ignore your friends, are you? if you are out in the open, you're safe. the home secretary would say that is mingling and thus against the new rule of six. maybe, but i think most people

are going to carry on and talk to theirfriends. it are going to carry on and talk to their friends. it may not seem like a big deal but it actually is. best friends chloe and amelia say they would not mingle with other groups. it is not worth it. i would keep to myself and just help protect my nan, and that. with lockdown, it was strict rules, in your house, that's it. like many, chris and amy are trying to work out what the new rules mean. i have no idea if it is adults or kids. they thought they could have six grown—ups for a barbecue of the children are u psta i rs barbecue of the children are upstairs asleep, but in england children are included in the rule of six, even if they are in bed. did you realise that? no, no. it is horrible, absolutely horrible. have an ice cream. thank you! that wouldn't be nice. what, the ice cream? the ice cream is lovely. the home secretary said that she would report her neighbours if they were breaking the rule of six. it is a

bit like a war. these friends come on holiday from cheshire, were divided. would you call the police if neighbours were breaking the rules ? if neighbours were breaking the rules? it is the right thing to do. it is for the benefit of the neighbours as well. there is no good in our generation sticking to the rules and everybody else going mad. i would think, because you have got to live with these people, it is later on to live with these people, it is lateron in to live with these people, it is later on in life, maybe a year goes by, and you are not speaking to your neighbours. it is not because i don't like my neighbours. will they be watching?! it may feel like summer is still hanging on, but this autumn, new rules apply. jon kay, bbc news, plymouth. the speaker of the irish parliament has announced that all members of the irish cabinet have to self—isolate. it comes after the health minister stephen donnelly contacted his gp for a coronavirus test after feeling unwell this afternoon. this is breaking in dublin, the

announcement made by the speaker of the irish parliament in the house itself. he said the whole cabinet had to self—isolate because of what he called a very serious information coming out today. the irish national broadcaster is reporting that all of this came after the health minister stephen donnelly felt unwell and went to his gp to ask for a coronavirus test. the cabinet will not be able to meet again until the results of that test come back. this was already a big day for the irish government, in terms of its response to coronavirus. ministers had this morning launched a six month plan for living with the virus, in effect, keeping as much of the economy open as possible whilst repressing the virus as much as possible but they could not have imagined being in a position that that they are now in, at the end of the day. a former conservative mp has been sentenced to two years in prison for sexually assaulting two women. charlie elphicke — who represented dover between 2010 and 2019 — was found guilty earlier this year. in a witness impact statement read out in court, one of his victims

described mr elphicke as having stolen her self—worth and broken her spirit. the first official figures for school attendance in england for the autumn term show 88 per cent of pupils went back. this is a higher absence rate than the usual figure of about 5% but it is not broken down to show whether pupils were at home because of covid outbreaks. unemployment in the uk has risen to its highest level for almost two years. official figures show almost 700,000 people dropped off the payrolls since march, and economists expect more jobs to be lost as the government's furlough scheme is wound down by the end of october. the chancellor rishi sunak told cabinet ministers this morning that helping people get back to work, orfind newjobs is his "number one priority". but the labour leader sir keir starmer warned the country could face a "scarring effect of mass unemployment" unless new measures to protectjobs are brought forward. our economics editor

faisal islam reports. a unemployment is on its way back up, putting some pressure pressure on the government to extend its support schemes. it's a bit scary. after nine years of continuous work at a car factory, orian was let go in the last few days, having returned from furlough. they reassured us that ourjobs would be fine. they put us on the furlough scheme, so we felt quite secure because we were still getting paid. i came into work at six o'clock in the morning, sat down, drank a cup of tea, ready to start my position. got called up to the office and got let go. the monday after his job was lost, he's on a free retraining scheme to provide skills in short supply for building the hs2 rail line. today's numbers show the official unemployment rate up at 4.1% between may and july. still low by historic and international standards, but individual monthly data show

there is a more significant rise to 4.4% injuly, just as the wind—down of the government furlough scheme began. employment remained at a record, but within that, there was a record fall in the employment of 18 to 24—year—olds, down 146,000 on the previous quarter. i couldn't possibly afford it myself. ben, a personal trainer, says he too has to retrain in construction. i lost about 90% of my clients due to covid, so it's been quite quiet recently. i had to give it up. so that's it? so you've chosen to leave that behind and start fresh? yeah, try something new. the pandemic isn't just a one—off economic shock. it's changing the structure of how the economy works, the jobs and skills required, and here, they're trying to help people with that transition. but as the government winds down its support for workers, there's going to be an inevitable, sharp, painful rise injoblessness. in stoke, the chancellor,

on a visit to a pottery factory where furloughed workers have returned, says more than half of those furloughed returned to work by the middle of last month, which raises an obvious question. is it not the case as your predecessor mr brown, as your colleagues mr stride says, to extend the scheme, at least in a targeted way? i don't think the right thing to do is to endlessly extend furlough. but protecting people'sjobs, creating new jobs, remains top of my mind, and i'm always looking for interesting, creative, innovative and effective new ways to support jobs and employment. the opposition leader, sir keir starmer, addressing a virtual trade union congress, called for new forms ofjob support. target those sectors most in need, for example, retail, hospitality, aviation. all those hit by local lockdown, and provide certainty for workers and for businesses. the government is waiting to see if british workers can defy predictions of massive rises in joblessness by retraining for newjobs, like here with construction. faisal islam, bbc news.

the time is 6:16pm. our top story this evening. the coronavirus testing problems will take weeks to resolve says the health secretary, as he acknowledged the system is facing an "enormous challenge". and coming up, we take to the skies to remember the battle of britain, 80 years on. coming up on sportsday on bbc news. arsenal keep their man. pierre—emerick aubameyang signs a new three—year deal, ending speculation he'd leave injanuary. he says "the best is to come for arsenal". humanity is at a crossroads and we have to take action now to make space for nature to recover and slow its ‘accelerating decline'. this is according to a report by the un convention on biological diversity. it sets out what it calls ‘urgent transitions' that could slow the ongoing decline in nature. these transitions also provide the basis for an agreement that 196

nations are expected to sign up to at the un biodiversity conference in china next year. our science and environment correspondent victoria gill has more. the latest report calls for urgent action to slow and describe —— slow what it describes as nature is accelerating decline. coronavirus has taught us the nature between human interaction and nature, so we need to change our production consumption, human encroachment into wildlife, into forest. the picture this report paints is of an unsustainable relationship between humans and nature. one recent study calculated £400

billion is spent globally on intensive agriculture and unsustainable fishing. some of those billions, the un says, need to be redirected now into turning the tide on biodiversity loss. we certainly have to invest in conserving the nature that we still have and the wild places we still have, and also restoring those that we have lost. this will be essential to contribute to the climate agenda as well as preventing mass extinction. this will mean that every country will need to make commitments to protect habitats, to produce food more sustainably and eat a more sustainable diet. they will have to reduce pollution so we and wildlife can have clean air and clean water, and we will have to make more space for greenery and nature, even in our

most urban environments. it is a nature crisis, so we really need to think about how we can improve these areas and bring back nature to the city. we really need to connect people back to that nature as well, so people really value its function. in the years ahead, countries will set out to repair the damage caused by the coronavirus pandemic. but without making space for nature as we rebuild, the un says we risk leaving a damaged planet for future generations. the family of a teenager murdered in the manchester arena attack, have described how their lives have been ruined since her death in may 2017. the inquiry into the attack, which killed 22 people, has been hearing from each family, as they pay tribute to the relatives they lost over three years ago. our north of england correspondent judith moritz reports. what is a life made of? a journey of moments, of birthdays and holidays, christmas, prom, graduation, but

when life is cut short, as it was for kelly, megan, courtney and martin, those moments become memories which families hold onto for ever. families like the hurley family who are mourning the future that 15—year—old megan should have had. megan's gcses, further education, career and life were so cruelly taken from her during the horrific attack at the arena. her prom, her wedding, her horrific attack at the arena. her prom, herwedding, herfirst carand her own children. so many milestones will be missed and so many questions are still unanswered. the characters and personalities of each of the 22 people who died are being given life again as their families pay tribute to them. it is intensely moving to watch, the depths of their pain is so clear. i am carrying on in the spirit of martin. it is leaving this

absolutely massive, gaping hole inside my soul. that is without any shadow of a doubt. it will never heal. martin's family chose to show pictures which have now taken on extra meaning. i remember saying, this might be the last chance we get to have a photo together outside the house. martin loved dressing up, here as margaret thatcher, and also as deirdre barlow and was a member does a celebrity in his own right. the world has been robbed of a potential superstar, of an actual superstar. you only have to look at martin's social media, his tv appearances, to know that in some way or another, before after he was taken from us, he has touched a lot of peoples lives. courtney's story tragedy of a baby becoming a child, then a teenager, but never an adult. i would give the world to see my

daughter and best friend again. to hear her voice and look in her beautiful brown eyes. i know that as time goes by, my daughter's beauty will never fade and she will always remain beautiful. kelly brewster was 32. her parents spoke of their hurt that she will never get married will become a mother. what a waste, it was said today, of so much potential. plans for a £20 billion nuclear power plant in wales have been scrapped. work on the wylfa newydd project on anglesey was suspended in january last year because of rising costs after hitachi failed to reach a funding agreement with the uk government. the council says the company have now confirmed in writing it is withdrawing from the project. the match of the day presenter, gary lineker, has once again been named presenter, gary lineker, but the radio 2 presenter zoe ball has shot up the list and is now earning more than £1 million after taking over the breakfast show last year. the latest figures were published in the bbc‘s annual report. it came as lineker announced he

would be taking a £400,000 pay cut. here's our media editor, amol rajan. whatever the complexities and caveats within this annual report, in a time of brutal recession across the country, these salaries are a bad look. on £1.75 million, gary lineker tops the list, but the 23% reduction in his new five—year deal means zoe ball on £1.36 million for her radio 2 breakfast show now earns slightly more. some of the published salaries don't include earnings from shows made by the bbc‘s commercial arm. the bbc has given some individuals, mostly women, big pay rises for taking on additional work. that's in an attempt to address the imbalance in gender pay. can we just say thank you so much, everyone, for listening... at 1%, the overall increase in stars' pay is below inflation. in other words, a real terms cut. lineker and others could, and do, earn much more for their work

outside the bbc. this points to a tension within the corporation. it's a public sector institution engaged in a commercial war for talent. audiences flocked to the bbc‘s news and education services during the pandemic. iplayer viewing is sharply up, and the bbc sounds app has surpassed ambitious targets. but a fifth of those under 16 in this country see no bbc content each week and, among those aged 16—34, youtube will soon overtake the bbc. given all this, the optics of these salaries, which include my own, make it that bit harder to persuade a generation raised on youtube and whatsapp and tiktok to part with their cash. i don't really watch a lot. i don't feel like it is for my generation. it is one of several that are available and, increasingly i'm sort of using on demand services as well.

i haappily it, to make sure that i can keep watching those dramas, if we get another lockdown. for them to take a pay cut, i think is really good. so as long as they took the pay cut and wasn't like, oh, a bad thing came out of their mouth, happy days. shows such as top gear are getting ready to launch their new series. lockdown hit productions globally. and it cost the bbc £125 million at least. a new commercially minded director general insists bbc programmes need to create value for licence fee payers. the big unanswered question is how much the licence fee payers of tomorrow are willing to pay for famous faces. amol rajan, bbc news. 80 years ago today, on the 15 september, 1940, the luftwaffe launched its largest attack against london. more than 1,500 aircraft fought in the skies, the germans outnumbered the british in what was the climax of the battle of britain, which lasted more than three months. but the raf pilots in their spitfires and hurricanes secured victory that day in what was a turning

point in the war. sarah campbell reports from biggin hill, one of the main fighter stations that protected london. it was really something to see all of those aircraft up there, realising that people were going to get killed. a 17-year-old george don watched from battle of britain raged above him, inspired by the heroics, the heroics, he went on to join bomber command. compared to the pared down commemorations, now 97—year—old pilot was invited to watch a fly past which included a spitfire and hurricane, both of which played such a crucial role. to think that they were all young men and some of them only had about five or six weeks training, it was really something. knowing how important it was for the country. in september,

1940, britain was under sustained attack from the luftwaffe. the sta kes attack from the luftwaffe. the stakes could not have been higher. if the nazis won the battle in the skies, next would come the planned land invasion. the british people we re land invasion. the british people were fighting for their lives. on the 15th of september, 1940, the first two squadrons of spitfires to be tasked with taking on the luftwaffe took off from here, at biggin hill, and flew to canterbury and engaged in incredibly dangerous dog fights high in the sky and then came back to refuel the planes, the pilot had a cup of tea and a sandwich, and then they were right back out again. their bravery and ultimately their success is remembered today. what people tend to forget is how pivotal that day was, the one we are now celebrating. it literally could have gone either way, so to come here today and fly alongside the legendary aeroplanes that took part in the battle 80 years ago was a huge honour. the battle against coronavirus meant this year the 80th anniversary

celebrations had to be curtailed, but the sacrifices have not been forgotten. 22, that was the average age. so they gave their lives to what people have got today, and i hope they don't forget that. george dunn there, ending that report from sarah campbell. time for a look at the weather. here's louise lear. good evening everybody. we are teetering on the edge of autumn, so every sunny, warm day comes as a blessing. it's been beautiful today for many of us and just that bit further north, look at cumbria in the lake district, lake windermere here, but it does look like fruit and in kent will be confirmed as the warmest place today with 31 degrees, but fairly widespread warmth across the country with mid to high 20s for many. there was a little bit of rain around across parts of scotland in particular and it's been nagging lee clinging onto the far north—east and a few nuisance showers moving through wales and some of them will

filter east as we go through the evening and overnight, and we will see a week where the front from the north bringing some more in the way of cloud through scotland and northern ireland —— whetherfront. we will start with a mild start in the south—east, 17 degrees, slightly fresher feel further north and west and an indication of what is to come through the remainder of the week ahead. high pressure moves in, but the week whether front brings in something cooler and fresher behind, something cooler and fresher behind, so those temperatures are going to start to fall away, and that said, central and southern areas will see the best of the sunshine across england and wales tomorrow and the week whether front introduces drizzle at times and a fresher feel here especially on the exposed each coast. top temperatures are likely to peak at 12 or 18 degrees with the cloud, and further south we might see temperatures again into the mid 20s. but that theme is