ofthe of the mod. i have of the imo. i have three perspective of the mod. i have three questions which should not take too long. the first, simply, you can just nod, that would be fantastic. increased budgets! the sector has been hurt by the epidemic. you support they received has been significantly impacted. this could meet with the chancellor and some of the service charities in order to see what we can be done to make sure that our great heroes are not forgotten? secondly, relating, going back to covid... forgotten? secondly, relating, going back to covid. .. yes is the answer to that. thank you. it's a good start. for them to the government's response to covid—i9, please could make great use of our fine armed forces? it is not a mark of a failure to lean on the versatile skills more so than we are currently

giving, when you're faced with such enduring emergency and trying to move perhaps onto a war footing. the one department and by how that action plans for entrance for crisis situations is the mod. please would you consider taking more advantage of their skill sets here in whitehall in assisting with strategic planning, operational delivery, command and control and managing the narrative? prime minister, turning to the actual integrated review, your first duty in government is the nations security, and as we have been discussing here, crudely put, this review falls into two parts, firstly defining ouremerging review falls into two parts, firstly defining our emerging threats and second the defence posture... 0k, we're actually what you leave that committee hearing. we are going to ta ke committee hearing. we are going to take you straight to washington, where dominic raab is making a

statement after meeting the us secretary of state, mike pompeo. that's what we have to say. and i look in particular in that regard in working more closely with the us in africa, given the challenges there. mike and! africa, given the challenges there. mike and i discussed the poisoning of alexei navalny. that remains a major concern. we welcome the progress towards his recovery and oui’ progress towards his recovery and our thoughts remain very much with him and his family. in the uk, as mike said, we have seen first—hand the impact and the consequences of a novichok attack, when the russian intelligence officers used in assassination attempt in salisbury backin assassination attempt in salisbury back in 2018. needless to say, the use of a banned chemical weapon violates the convention. there must be accountability for it. and we work with oliver ellis to that effect and i think the russian government is duty—bound to expend what happened to mr navalny through

a full interest -- full —— fulland —— full and transparent investigation. ifail to see any... the russian government has a case to answer. mike and i also discussed how we intend to work with our partners to support germany, to ensure justice with our partners to support germany, to ensurejustice is done. we need to work within the obcd and ican we need to work within the obcd and i can say the uk will not from from that. we also discussed a run. i think we actually agreed that iran's never been, should never be allowed to obtaina never been, should never be allowed to obtain a nuclear weapon and we also i think share the view that the different medic door is open to iran to negotiate a peaceful way forward. that decision, that choice, is there for the leadership in tehran to take. on the middle east peace process , we take. on the middle east peace process, we discussed the normalisation between israel and the various arab states. huge tribute to

american leadership, with the agreements that were celebrity here yesterday. we full the support the agreements between the uae and bahrain, with israel, and again i wa nt to bahrain, with israel, and again i want to pay particular should be to make's work and jared kushner‘s work. these really important steps towards peace in the release. we also believe it is an opportunity for the dialogue between the israelis and the palestinians. i think i will be necessary for an enduring two state solution. we had a good discussion on all of that. mike and! a good discussion on all of that. mike and i also talked about belarus, where we, as mike has already said, share the view that excessive violence used by the belarussian authorities, as well as the systematic targeting of opposition leaders, is completely honest of double, completely under some

com pletely completely unacceptable. we'll be looking to both the vote reading of the election and also the assaults and human rights abuses perpetrated against the protesters. at the same time, we are doubling our support to the independent media in the civil society, with an extra £1.5 million over the next two years. we also talked about a shared concern about hong kong, the people of which are suffering very serious human rights abuses. we urge china to live up to its international legations and it is absolutely crucial that the freedoms of the people in the autonomy of hong kong our respective —— are respected in full and will be watching very carefully notjust for the enacting but the security legislation and how that plays out. china must also and the egregious

human rights population against the uighur population. finally, we discussed progress on our free—trade agreement negotiations since we last met and the importance of a clean, resilient economic recovery from covid—19 the stoplight mike, we are willing on the negotiators. there is a willingness for a deal and we are, and we can get there. as we prepare for our g7 presidency next year, i wa nt to for our g7 presidency next year, i want to thank our american friend for their stewardship this year. under your leadership, the g7 nations have committed to do whatever is necessary to ensure a strong and courted into response to covid 19. strong and courted into response to covid19. that shared commitment will remain our guiding principle as we prepare to take up the presidency injanuary and, come what may, i know that the transatlantic alliance

will continue to be notjust the bedrock of uk foreign policy but also a stronger force for good in these uncertain times, so, mike, thanks very much. we are going to ta ke thanks very much. we are going to take a few questions now. reuters. secretary pompeo, what is the practical effect of insisting that snapback has occurred if virtually i'io snapback has occurred if virtually no other countries, including great britain, concur with your interpretation and refuse to implement it? why is this not a paper victory but a practical defeat and what if anything can the united states do to punish countries that do not re—enact the sanctions that you assert will be restored this weekend? are you considering secondary sanctions against allies like great britain to get them to comply? and foreign secretary, the

e3 made clear it cannot support the night satan snapback. how are you going to respond when it happens this weekend? do you foresee any significant economic effect on britain or europe and what are you going to do if the united states chooses to threaten the uk and europe with secondary sanctions for a failure to comply with a snapback you don't believe has occurred? so, no, you suggested somehow this is a divided failure. it could be there isa divided failure. it could be there is a different night failure. in 2015, when this agreement was entered into. it is a very short time period, five years, and we are there now, when would allow the largest sponsor of state terror to have arms. the one thing the previous administering government as they included a provision where,

under un security council resolution to 31, and one of the nations identified had the right to say we wa nt identified had the right to say we want sanctions that were in place prior to this, that moment, to snapback, and that is what we will do. idid snapback, and that is what we will do. i did the president said it, told the american people in 2015, he said, we don't need any other country to go along with us. there we re country to go along with us. there were 110 country to go along with us. there were no conditions, nothingness that had to happen. it was simply the case that any one of those nations had the right to snapback sanctions. that is what we will do. as for the actions you will take, the un will ta ke actions you will take, the un will take the sanctions that it always does. these will be valid un security council resolutions and the united states will do what it always does. it would do its share as part of its responsibilities to enable peace, this time in the middle east, we will do all the things we need to do to ensure that those sanctions are enforced. i rememberwhen i became secretary of state, when the

united states made the decision with respect to the joint comprehensive plan of action, there were those who said the sanctions would not be successful. i think anyone who has stared at the state of the islamic republic of iran's financial situation today, the fact that they can no longer have the resources to underwrite has hezbollah, those resources are greatly reduced. their capacity run the world has been greatly reduced. we have been successful despite what the world said it happened if we made the decision the president made rightly back in may of 2018. from the uk point of view, we sure the us concerns about iran and the iranian threat, both on the nuclear side of things but also the wider the —— destabilising region. we also welcome us and other efforts to

broaden it. we don't think thejc poa is perfect by any stretch. it should be brought in, a more comprehensive deal is exactly in the same place in the us. the other ways we can get there, there may be shades of difference but we constructively manage them as we have to this point. ronnie brown of the bbc. bbc news. secondary of state, what was your reaction when you heard the uk's northern ireland secretary tell mps at westminster that the uk government cosmic actions to lay the ground to break its agreement with the european union doesn't break international law? do you still trust the uk or does this

reduce the chances, do you think, of a trade deal with the us? and with the us administration seek to bypass congress if it stands annoyed of any deal? into the uk foreign secretary, ifi deal? into the uk foreign secretary, if i may, speaker nancy pelosi and other members of congress have been very outspoken in their criticism of the uk government's decision to reopen the brexit withdrawal agreements. do you think you have jeopardised the chances of striking a trade deal with the us? why should anybody trust the uk now? and how much damage heavy dented uk's reputation both here and around the world ? reputation both here and around the world? thank you. i would rather ta ke world? thank you. i would rather take that question the first one! yes, we trust the united kingdom. i am confident they will get it right. we've made clear our view of the importance of the good friday agreement, we know the complex of the of the situation, we have done what we can to provide assistance where we can. in the end, this will bea where we can. in the end, this will be a set of decisions that the united kingdom makes nitrate competence they will get this right.

ina way competence they will get this right. in a way that treats everyone fairly, gets a good outcome for what it was the united kingdom people voted for several years back. from the uk's point of view, i have had positive discussions with mike and the administration but also congressmen and cars men from both sides of the political aisle, if i can put it that way, and we continued to discuss i will see nancy pelosi later. i think it is a great opportunity for me to be clear that the tech to the good friday agreement as is reflected in the northern ireland protocol is from the eu's politicization of the issue. our commitments to the good friday agreement end to avoid any extra infrastructure at the north and the southis infrastructure at the north and the south is absolute. wood meadows commenced well before the issues around the internal marketing has come up around the internal marketing has come up on around the internal marketing has come up on the hill with senate and house leaders and figures. and just

to be absolutely clear, i think this comes across from the further safeguards that have been prepared in relation to the bill, the uk action here is offensive, in relation to what the eu is doing. it is precautionary, we have not done it yet, and is proportionate. but we cannot have, and this is contrary to the northern ireland vertical and a risk to the good friday agreement, but we cannot have is the eu erecting a regulatory border down the irish sea. i have had really have good conversations. thank you everyone. thank you, dominic. great to see you. you have been watching the foreign secretary, dominic rabb, there alongside his counterpart, mike pompeo —— dominic raab. presently, that final question, looking at whether or not united since might still trust the uk when it comes to

our future trade talks. following the suggestion the uk might actually break international law in its dealings with the european union. mike pompeo making it clear they are that the us still trust the uk and that the us still trust the uk and that their suggestions it could break international law was for the uk and the european union. dominic raab said he made it clear that he is going to be seeing nancy pelosi, the leader of the house, in congress later on today. remember that congress has to ratify any trade deal agreed between the uk and the us and a number of us congressmen have sent a letter to borisjohnson, making it clear that any suggestion in dealings with the european union that international law could be broken and that the good friday agreement could be affected would

scupper any future trade deal with the united states, but dominic raab making it clear that those negotiations with european union and the discussions in parliament over the discussions in parliament over the internal market bill was defensive, it was precautionary and it would deal with any unreasonableness on the part of the european union in those talks, but dominic raab meeting members of congress a little bit later on today to further hammer out the problems and issues relating to that. over the last hour and a half, the prime minister has been appearing in front of the commons liaison committee, answering questions from senior mps on the pandemic and on brexit. borisjohnson has defended the uks coronavirus testing system, insisting it compares "extremely well" with other european countries. he also said he did not want to see a second national lockdown to combat the pandemic, saying it would be completely wrong for britain and be financially disastrous. let's take a listen to some of the coronavirus questioning, first of all.

do we have currently enough testing capacity available? the short answer to that is — no, we don't. we don't have enough testing capacity now because, in an ideal world, i would like to test absolutely everybody that wants a test. and so... when will we have that? so, let's be in no doubt that, however, there has been a massive increase in testing capacity. and it's gone up from 2,000... i acknowledge that, prime minister. following the chairman's directions, let's consider when will the capacity be in place? we'll be up to 500,000 by the end of october. by the end of october? the health secretary told the select committee that it would be within two weeks. what's happened since then? why has it been a problem?

what would be...? a week ago, matt hancock told the social care select committee that the problem would be solved within two weeks from then. that's a week from now. what happened from now to then to make... isaid... i said there will be 500,000 a day by the end of october. 0k, ok, improvements there, the prime ministers suggesting, in testing. during questioning, the prime minister defended the uk's efforts on testing, but acknowledged frustrations of those struggling to get tested. before people run down the uk's efforts, it really is worth bearing in mind that we are now testing more per head of population than france and germany and spain, and conducted more tests than any other european country. could ijust emphasise, though, that if the schools start falling over for lack of tests, that will disrupt everything — the economy and everything. a school in my constituency, 97% of pupils came back when it reopened.

they've only got 88% of pupils there now. they've got a staff member off waiting for a test for one of their children, and they've got 13 pupils off waiting for tests. how would we prioritise testing for schools to keep them operating? well, perhaps, sir bernard, you weren't listening when i made the point to mr clark that the people should not be sent home unless a member of the class or the bubble has tested positive. yes, but the pupils themselves are requiring to be tested. that's the problem. because it was something that's happened in their home, not something that's happened in school. well, as i say, and i appreciate the frustrations of parents and of pupils who want more tests, and all i can say is that we are doing our level best to supply more tests, to speed the process up, to turn it around faster and to ensure that people get tests as close as possible to where they want them.

and i know how frustrating it is that people have been asked to go long distances, and we're doing what we can to bring those distances down. they have come down a bit. 0k, ok, so testing and schools forming a big part of the questions there for the prime minister, but he also had to deal with brexit, of course. the government appears to have reached a compromise with conservative backbenchers aimed at heading off a rebellion over legislation allowing ministers to override aspects of the eu withdrawal agreement. the prime minister told mps the bill is needed to protect the "territorial integrity" of the uk if trade talks with the eu fail. mrjohnson told mps that the eu had not taken the opportunity to reassure the uk in negotiations. they have singularly failed to do that. are they negotiating in good faith? as i say... you don't think that? i don't believe that. you don't? so, why did the northern ireland secretary tell the northern ireland select committee that, in his opinion, the eu is negotiating in good faith?

well, it is always possible that i am mistaken and perhaps... right. perhaps they will prove my suspicions wrong, and perhaps they will agree in the joint committee to withdraw some of the extreme suggestions that i've heard and all will be well. but until such time, i prefer to have protections guaranteeing the integrity of this country and protect against the potential rupture of the united kingdom. 0k. our political correspondent helen catt is at the houses of parliament for us. helen, let's just clear something helen, let'sjust clear something up first of all. the suggestion the amendment, suggesting there may be an extra layer of protection from the uk going into breaking international law, with this

internal market bill, has that been agreed with number ten? how the government agreed that to try and get this part of the legislation? that is what we understand. it is not confirmed yet, but we understand there been discussions between some of those conservative mps who are going to try and change the legislation next week, as it goes to parliament, they have not reached agreement with number ten which would give a degree of more parliamentary, an extra layer of parliamentary, an extra layer of parliamentary oversight of ministers hope that will be enough to stave offa hope that will be enough to stave off a rebellion next week because what bob neal was going to do with his amendment was to try and give parliament a say over whether these powers that are included within the bill will ever actually be used. we know the prime minister, the team have number ten, have been speaking with backbenchers come speaking with conservative mps to try and if them on—site with this, so they can get this built her neck sweet. it seems like there may have been some success there but will have to wait

and see. sure. any prime minister admitting there is not enough testing capacity, admitting testing is having problems and people are frustrated. this suggestion that there will be half a million tests, 500,000, by the end of october seems to contradict what matt hancock, and this indeed was the point bernard jenkin was making, he was suggesting they would reach half—million within two weeks. do we know which it is? as you said, we have got two different timescales. the prime minister was asked this a couple of times during the liaison committee for he definitely said that end of october deadline to reach that target of half a million tests a day. it was interesting. you heard greg clark, the chair of the science and technology committee. he was pressing the prime minister if that was going to be enough, people would be coming forward with cold symptoms, flu symptoms, and even if they get there, will 500,000 enough

to do with people who have all of those symptoms and also have coronavirus too? the pendants are absolutely adamantly defending the system, saying... you heard him admit there, that, no, it doesn't have capacity, but it is the most thoroughgoing testing regime in europe. he says there are going to be more labs on stream, that they are buying lab space abroad him and that the government is doing everything it can to try and get that capacity up. 0k, helen, thank you for that. helen cat there at the houses of parliament. —— helen catt. unions and school leaders are calling for teachers to be given priority for coronavirus tests, as a surge in demand causes long

delays in some areas. nhs trusts report people heading to a&e departments and to gps for tests — and officials across the north west say the system there is under severe strain. our health correspondent richard galpin reports. queues of people here in southend—on—sea, lining up to get tested for coronavirus. the surge in demand for tests as winter approaches and children return to school, overwhelming the key laboratories, which process the swab tests. people now being discouraged from coming to testing centres like this, unless essential, sparking an angry response here. i dropped my daughter off with my granddaughter. she was about 350 people behind all these to be told they cannot get tested because they don't have enough, they only had enough tests for about 150 people. wow. the lady in front of her had been here five days on the trot with her little one. she couldn't get tested. another guy had been queueing since 4.30 in the morning to get tested. to tackle this, the government, which earlier this year encouraged people to get tested now has changed tack and wants priority given to nhs

patients and staff and a care home staff and residents. the nhs has to be at the top of the list, and then social care, and i think, looking at the need to keep our economy going and our schools open, it's clear that making sure that we get our priorities right so that children can stay in school and parents are able to go to work, clearly has to be at the heart of this important work. but other key workers, such as teachers, are also being affected by the shortage of tests and so far have not been prioritised. the lack of testing means that we are stuck at home with our children. our children are not able to attend school. we are not able to return to work. i do have some symptoms. it could be just a cold, but if it was ruled out, if i found out i didn't have coronavirus, then i could go back to work, my wife could go back to work and continue teaching.

such is the situation now that people have been heading to a&e units in hospitals, like this one in bolton, in their dozens, in the hope of getting tested here. bolton has the worst infection rate in the country. but in this tweet, the hospital trust is saying a&e is so busy with patients requesting tests, it wants people to stay away. we're not alone. we're hearing from other nhs trusts where this is happening as well, and our gp surgeries. because people are not able to access the system, they're panicking. they're thinking, "where can i go to get some certainty about whether my family member is struggling?" otherwise they can't go to work. they can't go to school. so we are seeing gps being inundated in the same way that hospitals are. and now to add to the problems, another welsh authority will be put under local lockdown from tomorrow evening, following an increase in cases. in scotland, nicola sturgeon

has said that while cases were continuing to rise, the backlog of testing was decreasing. and there were no indications of any difficulty booking tests. but there are plans to set up new testing centres to cope with demand. richard galpin, bbc news. the latest coronavirus figures for the uk have been released by the department of health and social care. it has reported a further 20 new deaths as a result of covid—19, taking the total number of uk deaths to 1115811. and the number of newly recorded positive cases is 3,991, bringing the total number of uk cases to 378,219. we've got more for you coming up, so stay with us. but now, here is the weather news.

the hot weather over the last few days has well and truly gone now. the temperatures fall the rest of the week. we'll be closer to the norm for the time of the year. but it's going to remain settled and plenty of sunshine on the way, in fact. this is what it looks like through this evening and overnight. we have a weak cold front, or a cool front, crossing the country. air coming in from the north. dry, fresh air spreading across the uk. so, temperatures in the north east of the country dipping to single figures, but still some of that warmth left in the extreme south and the south west, around about 15—16 degrees for example in the channel islands. and then tomorrow might start off cloudy and in one or two places, but on the whole, it is going to be beautiful sunny day, pleasantly warm, too. temperatures in the low 20s across the south, not far off 20 degrees in the lowlands of scotland. just a bit of cloud here in the north west. the winds will be light for many of us, so it's going to be really nice indeed. bye— bye.

hello, this is bbc news with clive myrie. the headlines — the prime minister says he will do "everything in his power to avoid a second lockdown" and that testing was a problem the government was working on. before people run down the uk's efforts, it really is worth bearing in mind that we are now testing more per head of population than france and germany and spain, and conducted more tests than any other european country. teachers want to be added to the priority list for access to testing with nhs staff and care workers to be at the front of the queue. in wales, another area is placed under lockdown restrictions. people will not be able to enter or leave rhondda cynon taf from 6pm tomorrow. the bbc understands the prime minister has reached a deal with tory rebels over a bill to rewrite the eu withdrawal agreement. boris johnson told mps he didn't think brussels was acting in good faith.

perhaps they will agree in the joint committee to withdraw some of the extreme suggestions that i've heard and all will be well. but until such time, i prefer to have protections guaranteeing the integrity of this country and protect against the potential rupture of the united kingdom. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin. we'll start with the cricket at old trafford first, and england's deciding one—day match against australia at old trafford. england recovered from a poor start to give themselves a good chance of winning the series. they had jonny bairstow‘s century to be grateful for. henry moeran is there for us now. a dreadful start for england, how did their innings

pan out they lost the first two balls. they did recover well. they had never happened in england's history. jonny bairstow had 112 and sam billings made 57. but at the back end of the innings as we saw in the second one day, the useful runs from the lower order have given england a really good total. chris woa kes and england a really good total. chris woakes and finishing on 53 not out. bats for england just passed 300 in australia has targeted a fairly hefty 303. has a just and for them at the moment right now? the first breakthrough for england with chris woa kes breakthrough for england with chris woakes getting breakthrough for england with chris woa kes getting the breakthrough for england with chris woakes getting the big wicket of the australian captain aaron finch al lbw and that will settle english nurse because when finch gets going, he can be a really dangerous player but we have got the early breakthrough in the pressure is on australia and the english need to make sure they keep building that pressure and see if they can get some more wickets and ensure they

get the series went that we kept a memorable summer. indeed so. thank you very much indeed, henry. ten english football league clubs have been given the green light to have up to 1000 fans in their grounds for their matches this weekend. it's all part of wider plans for the return of supporters in sport next month. our senior sports news reporter laura scott says this round of games, including home matches for norwich, luton and middlesbrough, could prove to be a crucial test. there've been pilots held since the end ofjuly to see how fans can return to sport safely, and there had been the hope there would be a wider roll—out of the return of fans from the 1st of october. that is now under review, and we know the culture secretary oliver dowden is meeting with the major sports today to discuss this issue and they will be making their case as to why they need fans back next month. the efl have welcomed the fact that they will be ten pilots this weekend,

three in the championship, four in league 1 and three in league 2, but crucially that is only up to 1,000 fans and they say they want this to demonstrate that they can have more fans back in. chelsea's new striker timo werner says he's convinced he made the right decision to join this summer. frank lampard's side face champions liverpool this weekend. the german international revealed that he considered other offers, but that he chose stamford bridge after being persuaded that the club could win things. i come here to win titles, of course. chelsea is a big club, a clu b course. chelsea is a big club, a club that always wants to win. for me, i club that always wants to win. for me, lama club that always wants to win. for me, i am a player that always wants to win every game. so it's clear to win titles. the yes —— last year maybe we don't win so much titles but now i think we have a very strong team. a young team. primoz roglic has come through the hardest stage of the tour de france and leads the race by 57 seconds with four stages to go. colombia's miguel angel lopez rode

away from the group of favourites in the alps to win the stage and move up to third place overall. but the yellow jersey of roglic wasn't far behind and crucially finished ahead of the man in second place, tadej pogacar, to add an extra 17 seconds to his lead. that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. that's bbc.co.uk/sport. we'll have more for you in sportsday at 6:30pm. dominic raab has been meeting his us counterpart, the secretary of state, mike pompeo. part of the discussion covered prospects for a trade deal with the united states after brexit, and mr raab described the oppotunity as a win—win for both nations. this comes after four senior us congressmen warned borisjohnson that a uk—us trade deal would be blocked if there were any risk to the good friday agreement. speaking at a joint press conference, the foreign secretary

said the uk was firmly committed to the good friday agreement. the threat to the good friday agreement as is reflected in the northern ireland protocol has come from the eu's politicized nation of the issue. and to be clear on how thatis the issue. and to be clear on how that is happened a while that is happened, our commitment to the good friday agreement and to avoid any extra extreme infrastructure in the border between north and south is absolute. we have made that and i have had conversations well before theissue have had conversations well before the issue of the internal market bill has come up on the hill with senate and house leaders and figures. we can cross now to washington and speak to paul glastris, who is the editor—in—chief of the washington monthly and was formerly president bill clinton's chief speechwriter. good to see you. thank you very much indeed for being with us. the suggestion from any government that it is willing potentially to break

international law, is that enough to give an american government whatever colour pause for thought in its future dealings with that country? yes, obviously. this is a tactical break. it is not encroach on other people's territories or anything, but it is a break in an international treaty that was itself highly controversial and not particularly welcome in american national security and diplomatic circles. and, yes, this will absolutely complicate any effort to have a us — uk trade agreement. absolutely complicate any effort to have a us - uk trade agreement. 0k, so from the executive branch side, the president and his secretary of state mike pompeo, he made it clear standing right next to dominic raab that he still trusts the uk and that any future trade talk should probably go fine. the problem is it is not the executive branch that is

in sole control of trade talks with another country, is it? and that is another country, is it? and that is a fundamental issue here. no question and presuming the democrats don't loose their control of the house of representatives in the next upcoming elections, it will have to move through a democratic—controlled branch of the legislature. but, you know, the other thing is boris johnson and dominic raab should be praying that donald trump wins reelection because if he does not, then things get really tricky. therefore, if it isjoe biden who wins the election in early november, where do you see the priority list in terms of and its position in that eight uk— us trade deal? will that slipped on the order or is it already down the order? let's

remember that joe biden is already down the order? let's remember thatjoe biden is a man in his late 70s who is very proud of his late 70s who is very proud of his irish heritage, who lived through the creation of the good friday accords, who suffered over the northern irish problem for many years. nancy pelosi, though not irish, is an ethnic politico of the old sort. they are to be very positive of that and also joe biden is on record as an opponent of brexit and is almost certainly going to be more open towards a us— eu agreement than a us— uk agreement. should this break happen that the johnson government is planning, that will make things even less likely, the chance of a trade deal with the uk even less likely. 0k, paul, good to see you and thank you forjoining us to see you and thank you forjoining us talking to us live. being a

breaking news from our political editor laura cooper confirming that number ten has accepted the resignation of lord keene, the advocate general for scotland. we know that in the last few days he has voiced his concerns over the possibility that the uk may break international law with its internal market bill, which passed its first stage in the house of commons. but lord keen there, it was announced a bit earlier today that he attended anything —— resignation, the advocate general of scotland, but now confirmed by number ten that he has resigned. and there you are, laura's tweet there. as i say, the advocate general of scotland, keen, has resigned and has shown his

disquiet in recent days over the possibility of the uk breaking international law following the publication of its internal market bill, which may override or negate aspects of the brexit withdrawal agreement already hammered out with the european union. so that has been confirmed in the last couple of minutes. serious and violent criminals in england and wales will face tougher jail terms under government proposals to overhaul sentencing laws. the new measures also include more support for those with mental health and addiction issues. here's our home affairs correspondent, june kelly. ellie gould was 17 when her life was taken by a former boyfriend after she ended their brief relationship. her killer, thomas griffiths, was also 17, and they were at the same school. he went to ellie's home and stabbed her repeatedly with a kitchen knife.

ellie's mum, carol, recently organised a get—together for her daughter's friends, who are all about to head off to university. i wanted to see them all before they went and wish them all the best. at the same time, i should've been wishing ellie off as well. her daughter's murderer was jailed for a minimum of 12 and a half years. new sentencing measures announced today include tougher penalties in the future for teenage killers. a move welcomed this morning by carole gould. i can't bear the thought he'll be out before he's 30. he's devastated our lives, and it seems so wrong that by the age of 30 he could be out and he's got a second chance to have a second life. there will also be harsher sentences for other violent offenders, including rapists, and powers to keep those convicted of terrorism in jail for longer. just some of the changes announced by the justice secretary. the public want to know that

custodial sentences for these sorts of crimes do what they say on the tin. they want to know that when serious and violent offenders go to prison, that's where they'll stay for as long as possible. these reforms will restore their faith that the system will keep dangerous criminals off our streets for longer. but there's a focus, too, on rehabilitation for less serious offenders. chris mcgrath with martin bruen, the psychologist who helped him to turn his life around when he was given a community sentence. martin enabled chris to address the mental health issues which had led to 16 years of reoffending. i'd be out from friday to sunday, sometimes even longer, spend all my wages, lose jobs, lose friends, whereas on the other hand now, i've gained all that back and more. a lot of the clientele that we see have been struggling with long—term mental health or substance misuse difficulties for quite some time.

without the support, thatjust kind of creates a revolving door. but all these proposals come as the court system is facing a massive backlog of cases. june kelly, bbc news. many of us are now aware of the environmental dangers of micro—plastics, or micro—beads, as millions of tonnes of them get washed into our seas and oceans. well, now, there's some good news. based on work started at cambridge university, a company has become the first in the world to make single—use plastic out of something that won't damage the planet — peas. here's our science correspondent richard westcott. everyone in this lab is full of plastic. well, their lab coats are, anyway. a lot of our clothes are full of tiny little balls that have got fragrance inside. it's what makes them smell so nice. now, normally, they're made of plastic, which washes into the environment and stays there for decades. what if you could make them out of something that's better for the planet?

like peas? this is the first company in the world to engineer plant protein into a material that does the same job as single—use plastic. things like the micro capsules that you'd often get inside fabric conditioners or cosmetics. at the moment, the micro capsules contain plastic which would not degrade and last for ages in the ocean. our capsules were made of protein and would be eaten by fish eventually. it's taken 15 years to perfect the process. here, they're using peas, but you can use other common plants, including potatoes. eventually, it comes out as a liquid that can be made into plastic—like sheets. so, after the coating has been dried in the oven, it turns into a lovely film, which we can then turn into a label like that that's on your apple there. so, basically, that's the equivalent of a plastic label, but i can eat it? yes, it'sjust100% pea protein.

0k. crunching. very nice! it's hard to eat an apple nicely on camera! dishwasher tablets, sandwich packets, sweet wrappers, all made of something that biodegrades naturally in a matter of days. is there a danger you're just replacing one problem with another, so farmers who should be growing food are actually going to grow peas to make plastic and then we don't have enough food? there are a lot of waste products already in the farming process that have got very low value or even are just ploughed straight back into the field that can be sold on and used to make our kind of materials. single—use plastics and micro plastics don't need to be made from fossilfuels. there's something very wrong about making materials from oil that just lasts for a minute or two. it's thought that the average family washes around a0 million tiny plastic balls down the drain each week.

several countries are in the process of banning them. now there's a process of swapping that harmful plastic for something made from peas. richard westcott, bbc news, cambridge. all day, you've been sending in your questions about the coronavirus testing delays. it's now time for your questions answered with my colleague, simon mccoy. and to answer your questions, i'm joined by dr elisabetta groppelli, a virologist and lecturer in global health at st george's university of london, and dr ellie cannon, a gp and mail on sunday columnist. thank you, both. straight into the questions. andrea says, only a small percentage of people being tested actually have the virus, so my question is what is causing symptoms in the majority being tested?

the symptoms associated like fever and a continuous cough are quite general symptoms and they can be caused by many viruses, and some viruses are older coronaviruses and others are rhinaviruses, but what is important is that all of these are now respiratory viruses which like to spread and transmit as we start mixing with each other. the only way that we have to tell these viruses apart is actually testing so right now testing is going to be crucial, not only to identify coronavirus infections but also to exclude it because there are many other players which are part the game. it could just be a cold? absolutely, that is what i'm seeing in practice and the viruses

that she is talking about, rhinoviruses and other types of coronaviruses which we have seen for the last few decades. that is why testing is absolutely crucial to make that differentiation. he says, i visited a pub on friday and may have been in close contact with someone who has since tested positive. the pub has informed me of this. do i have to self—isolate now or should i wait until i'm contacted by nhs test and trace? if i do need to self—isolate and have no symptoms, can i get a test? if i can't get a test, i can't go to work for two weeks. how is this helping the government's aim of getting people back in to work? if i can get a test and it's negative, can i end my self—isolation? ellie, what do you think? if he was in close contact with somebody who has tested positive in the pub, then as a close contact, you do have to self—isolate for 14 days and that is to see whether or not he starts to develop

coronavirus himself from that person he was in the pub with, so whether or not test and trace get in touch with him, if he was indeed in close contact, he should be off work and isolating for 14 days. he could have a test today, for example, and it wouldn't be very valuable, because he may not have developed coronavirus yet from that person. it can take as much is that 14 days to develop, so having a negative test is not going to help the situation, unfortunately. that's interesting. because a lot of people are perhaps thinking, i've had the test, and it's negative, i'm ok, but that's not the case. unfortunately not. a negative test gives us a snapshot of right here right now,

is the genome of the virus actually in the sample, and the answer might be negative, but as in not yet, and that is why if you don't have any symptoms, you still need to self—isolate for 14 days, which is longer than the ten days if you have symptoms, and that is because it can take as long as 14 days to develop symptoms but also to develop having an accurate result when it comes to a positive test. a lot of people talking about the messaging coming from government. steve asks, who are these "ineligible" people, as the government website states that "everyone" with symptoms are eligible for testing? how does that work? that is a very good question and obviously you have the three main symptoms which make you eligible for testing, the cough and fever and the change in taste or smell, but also there are other people

who are eligible for testing, key workers, care workers, families of people within those categories, and in certain areas you are allowed a test if you are in an area with a high risk of infection even if you don't have symptoms, but nobody is checking whether or not you really are eligible or whether or not you simply have ticked boxes on an online form, which is all you need to do to get the test. certainly, anecdotally, i know from talking to patients and talking to friends myself, people are ordering tests wrongly and misguidedly for reassurance or for other reasons so they feel safe going back to work and going back to school, and that isjust a snapshot so the reassurance is false, but there's no way of checking whether or not the people having the tests are indeed eligible. it is human nature that you want the reassurance and the message not long ago was if you have any doubts,

get yourself tested. i totally agree with wanting to know. either yes or no. i think the context here needs to be taken into consideration because the reality is the uk has been experiencing major challenges when it comes to testing, for lots of different reasons, and it has to be the fact that testing needs to be prioritised, and from a scientific point of view we know that the highest risk of transmission occurs when symptoms are present, so it is ok to start to tackle this to start with. later on, we definitely need to start addressing all other issues as to why people would want a test, even if it is just reassurance about having coronavirus or not. nhs trusts saying some people have turned up at a&e or gp

surgeries to get a test, this is something you are coming across? absolutely, i was on call in my surgery in north london this week and this is what we had. people phoning up often with children who have been sent home from school because they have a bit of a cough or a sore throat, the typical virus children get when they start school after a summer holiday off, and then looking for testing, and if that testing is not there, the whole system falls down in terms of symptomatic children. another question now... john asks, if someone in your bubble is positive for covid—19 and you are supposed to self isolate for two weeks, regardless of symptoms, do you need to get a test if you go on to get symptoms during isolation? if you are in a bubble and someone has a positive test,

you need to self—isolate, because it goes with symptoms, and this is what has changed, because early on in the pandemic it was about if you have symptoms, just self—isolate and you do not need a test, but things have moved on and now any symptoms as described actually make you eligible for a test. and in this case, because you have symptoms it is probably best to order as soon as possible a home test kit so that you don't have to go outside of the house to actually give the sample. ellie, you were nodding? yes, that is exactly right, and it is confusing for people because the guidelines have changed, but absolutely, a home test kit, stay at home and isolate, and do it yourself, and i am worried that people take the test themselves because it is very difficult to do yourself properly.

i have to swab myself every week because i'm on a vaccination trial, and it is quite hard to do this on yourself, because you have to go very far back in your throat and very far up your nose, which is uncomfortable, especially for children. self swabs are still an option, though, if you should not be going to a testing site. another question. why from the very beginning are gps not visiting the care homes in their area doing the tests? gps are not doing the tests in care homes. in my practice, we look after two care homes and they are tested weekly, i think, and that is led not by gps, that would not be a good use of their time, this is done by a team of people from district nursing and the public health people and other groups of people who go in to do the swab tests, just like teams of people who are going around the country to do the ons surveillance swabs and the type of people

in the testing centres nationally, in the drive—through centres, so there are people, technicians, going in and testing patients weekly in care homes, but that is not a good use of a gp's clinical time. to both of you, thanks forjoining us. i'm most grateful to both of you for your time. the hot weather over the last few days has well and truly gone now. the temperatures fall the rest of the week. we'll be closer to the norm for the time of the year. but it's going to remain settled and plenty of sunshine on the way, in fact. this is what it looks like through this evening and overnight. we have a weak cold front, or a cool front, crossing the country. air coming in from the north. dry, fresh air spreading across the uk. so, temperatures in the north east of the country dipping to single figures, but still some of that warmth left in the extreme south and the south west, around about 15—16 degrees, for example, in the channel islands.

and then tomorrow might start off cloudy and in one or two places, but on the whole, it is going to be beautiful sunny day, pleasantly warm, too. temperatures in the low 20s across the south, not far off 20 degrees for the lowlands of scotland. just a bit of cloud here in the north west. the winds will be light for many of us, so it's going to feel really nice indeed. bye— bye.

today at six... from schools, from hospitals, and from local government — warnings that the coronavirus testing system is in crisis. even where infection rates are highest, there are now complaints of confusion and delays. can't understand why it's going on so long. like, people can't get a test. it's extremely stressful. it's added a lot of stress to what is already an upsetting time for us while we are managing everybody being poorly. borisjohnson has admitted there is a problem with testing capacity, but says there'll be new guidance on who will get priority. also tonight... they've onlyjust gone back to class, but already hundreds of pupils are sent home over covid fears — teachers want priority