this is bbc news with the latest headlines. the government says the country is at a tipping point, as it prepares to introduce tough new fines for anyone in england who is told to self—isolate but fails to. if everybody follows the rules then we can avoid further national lockdown is. but we have course have to be prepared to take action if that's what's necessary. the labour leader says sorting out the problems with testing should be the government's number one priority. if i was the prime minister, i would apologise for the fact we are in this situation with testing. throughout the summer we were saying prepare for the autumn.

instead, we had the exams fiasco. president trump says he will nominate a woman within the next week as his choice to replace the supreme court judge, ruth bader ginsburg. anti—government protesters in thailand call for reform of the political system and the monarchy. a hurricane and three spitfires fly over central london to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle of britain, following a memorial service at westminster abbey. and coming up, we bring together politicians and members of the public to examine the key issues for voters in the us election campaign. the health secretary matt hancock

says further national lockdowns cannot be ruled out if people fail to follow the rules on tackling coronavirus. he was speaking amid growing concern at the rise in the number of infections in the uk. yesterday, fines of up to £10,000 were announced for those who repeatedly fail to self—isolate if they test positive. labour said the government's test and trace system was "near collapse". 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, reports. rules and restrictions are everywhere to see, but there is concern too many people are ignoring the advice and coronavirus cases are rising as a result. now, ministers believe it is time to get tougher. the health secretary, matt hancock, warned the country is at a tipping point. if everybody follows the rules, then we can avoid further national lockdowns, but we, of course, have to be prepared to take action,

if that's what is necessary. so we might be facing a further national lockdown if people don't obey the rules? that's exactly right. i don't rule it out, i don't want to see it. in england, anyone who tests positive for covid—19, or is found to have had close contact with someone who has, will be legally required to self—isolate. a £500 payment will be available for those on benefits, and fines of up to £10,000 for those who break the rules. we have all got a responsibility really, to make sure we don't spread the virus. and if people are going out of their way to ignore the guidelines, i think it is quite fair and proper that they should get punished quite severely for that. i think the rules now are really, really complex, and it's hard to find out if you have been in touch with somebody who might be positive, should you be staying in, should you be isolating? it's not easy. we looked them up the other day and it's not easy to understand

what you should be doing. ministers have been accused of mixed messages on whether people should report neighbours that they see breaking the rules. the health secretary was asked if he would call the police. yes, and for the self—isolation part, that is absolutely necessary, because that is how we break the chains of transmission. the test and trace system is crucial to slowing the spread of coronavirus, but recently it has struggled to meet demand, and labour say the public is owed an apology. whatever measure the government takes, we will support it. if i was the prime minister, i would apologise for the fact that we are in this situation with testing. throughout the summer, we were saying prepare for the autumn. instead we had the exams fiasco. i would make fixing testing the number one priority, and reinstate the daily press conferences, so we all know what is going on. persuading people to change their behaviour

may make a difference, but, if cases continue to rise, ministers will have no choice but to act. jonathan blake, bbc news. our health correspondent catherine burns explained why she thought the government was seeing this is as such a tipping point. the thing they are looking at is other countries. really simply, there is a time lag between numbers of cases going up and numbers of deaths going up, so we know that, in the worst cases it tends to pan out over 2—3 weeks, someone gets sick, they try to recover at home, then need to go to hospital, then they sadly die, so the numbers of deaths we are seeing now are probably people who got sick around the start of this month. and we know this because we saw it happen here in the springtime and now we are starting to see it happening in other countries across europe. so, matt hancock was asked about this and he pointed to spain. he said cases there shot up and that was followed by a rise in hospital admissions and an increase in deaths. the government also likes to give what it sees as a slightly more positive comparison

and that is to belgium. this is interesting, because there was a spike in cases there, and the government brought in a curfew and started reducing the number of people who could meet up, and it seemed to work, but there's a sting in the tail, because the numbers there are starting to rise too. so for now, where are we at? in terms of actual cases spread across the population our numbers are not as bad as these countries. the government wants to keep it this way. i spoke to the virologist and founder and editor of the naked scientists podcast, dr chris smith. he told me that he was fully expecting a rise in cases. well, i think it's inevitable we're going to see a lot more cases yet. i don't know whether or not we are going to get the level we were at back in march when we were at hundreds of thousands of infections per day. at the moment we are somewhere around about 5,000 or 6, 000 and rising and as catherine burns was just saying, although we don't have very

much activity in hospitals yet, that is no reason for complacency. because what happens generally is that you have infections and they are followed over a three or four week cycle by hospital admissions. so what we do today, we will not see the effects of for three or four weeks hence, so it's important to bear that in mind and also keep in mind that other countries across the european states have actually seen very big escalations in their cases and we are following along behind them. so i think what's happening here is politicians are seeing what other countries are doing, seeing what's happening in those countries and saying, it's almost certain we are following the same trajectory, that is where we will be if we do not turn the taps off now, and that's why they are trying to do this i think. one of the ways that might and i stress the word might turn the taps off is a second national lockdown, which matt hancock has raised the possibility of. as a virologist, would you recommend that? the government have described this as a nuclear option but importantly

said this is not a nuclear option they have taken off the table, so it still remains a possibility. i'm not sure that it's the right way to go based on where we are at the moment. i think it would be very destructive, i think it be very destructive psychologically, i think it would be very destructive educationally, i think it would be very destructive economically. i'm hoping that the measures that are being introduced will be sufficient and will rein in the numbers and i'm hoping that the current trend which is that most of the infection is in younger people, although not exclusively, who are at very low risk, it stays that way and we don't see it filter into older people who are more at risk. but at the end of the day, this is a very fluid situation and we just don't know. so we have to plan for the worst but hope for the best. president trump has said his nominee to replace ruth bayder ginsberg on the us supreme court will be a woman, and he'll make the announcement next week. justice ginsberg died on friday,

triggering a huge debate over whether her replacement should be announced before or after november's presidential election. paul hawkins reports. america's election in a microcosm. a divided nation, liberals vs conservatives, arguing over what's important, and now who gets to decide. replacing the latejustice ginsburg on america's top court was never going to be straightforward in the run—up to november's vote. but now we know a little bit more about the president's pick to replace her. it will be a woman, a very talented, very brilliant woman. applause who i haven't chosen yet, but we have numerous women on the list. but these are the two favourites. amy coney barrett on the left and barbara lagoa on the right, both highly respected by the president, who nominated both to the lower circuits. either would become the youngest serving justice

on america's top court. barbara lagoa, a cuban—american, the first hispanic judge on florida's supreme court. amy coney barrett, meanwhile, is a favourite of religious conservatives, known for her anti—abortion views. she also said thatjudges should not be strictly bound by supreme court precedents, so she could vote to overturn roe v wade, the landmark decision that gave women the right to choose. and then there is the question of when the republican—controlled senate should vote to confirm the nominee — before the election, or after. the democrats have started to threaten that if they win the senate, and they already control the congress and win the white house, then if the republicans play dirty then they are going to vote to expand the supreme court and add two more seats which would give biden two more nominations. but if the president's choice is installed before the election then the nine—judge supreme court would have six conservatives and three liberals, meaning a strongly conservative interpretation of the constitution

on big issues like abortion and gun control and civil rights. paul hawkins, bbc news. president trump says he's approved, in principle, a deal that would allow the video sharing app tiktok to continue functioning in the united states. he'd threatened to ban it, describing tiktok as a security threat. under the plan, two american companies, oracle and walmart, will both acquire stakes in tiktok, as well as the company's chinese owner, bytedance. a man's been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a number of people were hurt in a knife attack in plymouth. five people were taken to hospital, including a man with potentially life—changing injuries, following the attack outside a pub. police were called to the railway inn in the stoke area of the city at about 10pm on saturday. officers say it was an isolated incident and is not being treated as terrorism related.

anti—government protesters in thailand have installed a plaque near bangkok's grand palace proclaiming that the country belongs to the people and not the monarch. protests calling for the resignation of the government and reform of the monarchy have been continuing; activists camped out overnight in a field near the royal palace after tens of thousands joined demonstrations demanding reform. 0ur correspondent jonathan head reports. (vt they had camped overnight under the shadow of the old palace. protesters of all ages from the city and the countryside with a message for the government, the military and the king. they want sweeping changes to how power and resources are allocated in thailand. here, in what you might call king vajiralongkorn‘s backyard, they laid a brass plaque with an inscription that the country belonged

to the people, not the monarch. theyjoined in singing the national anthem. "we are patriotic," they say, "not nation haters," an accusation made by some royalists. but their hunger games salute has become a potent symbol of dissent in one of the world's most unequal societies. they have been allowed to occupy this park, site of the most illustrious royal ceremonies, but as the protest moved towards the grand palace, they found their way blocked by the police. 22—year—old student panusaya sithijirawatta na kul, who last month stunned thailand by reading of a ten—point manifesto for royal reform, was left to deliver her letter, addressed to the king, to the police commander with instructions to pass it on. the party—like atmosphere we have seen here belies the seriousness of the challenge that these protesters are throwing down to the monarchy,

notjust the occupation of one of the most important royal sites here in bangkok, but also some of the critical comments made about king vajiralongkorn from the stage. stronger than anything i think most thais have heard said in public before. what we cannot guess yet is how the palace and the authorities are going to react. in the two months since these protests began, they have transformed the political debate in thailand, saying things once thought unsayable. there is an understandable sense of elation in watching taboos being broken, but there are plenty of risks, too, when a near sacred institution is confronted and questioned like this for the first time. jonathan head, bbc news, bangkok. full—time residents of england's university towns and cities fear a rise in coronavirus cases as students return, that's the suggestion from a survey

for the university and college union. the union has previously urged universities to scrap face—to—face teaching until christmas. and for students themselves, it's proving to be a very different experience, with a low—key fresher‘s week and some lectures and classes taking place online. i asked zoe thomas, the principal author of this year's sunday times good university guide, what students might expect as they return to university. they're going to find it's quite a different experience. it still of course worth having and this is a huge milestone in any young person's life and for their families as well. so they are still excited and looking forward to it but they will discover they will not have the big lecture hall experiences that would have happened in previous terms. because as you said in your introduction, so much is now being done online. there is still some

face—to—face teaching, but it's going to be on a smaller scale in groups and students will be living and studying in bubbles. and these, as restrictions may get tighter, the bubbles may have to get a little smaller. halls of residence are less full, they have had to be to take into consideration social distancing, some universities are are hopeful being more sedate, it might positively impact students proclivities for drinking and reckless behaviour so there may be some positives to come out of this. but what we have also seen is a lot of development in the higher education sector, looking at what will work going forward and the health pandemic is going to put the fast forward button on that, because things like recording of lectures were already taking place and for a lot of educationalists,

the notion of being on stage is outdated, perhaps not the best way for students to take in information so some universities are quite looking forward to them not going back to those days and to use smaller scale teaching environments and recorded lectures instead. the headlines on bbc news... the government says the country is at a tipping point, as it prepares to introduce tough new fines for anyone in england who is told to self—isolate but fails to. the labour leader says the government should apologise for the problems with the testing system, and sorting them out should be its number one priority. president trump says he will nominate a woman within the next week, as his choice to replace the supreme court judge, ruth bader ginsburg. sport and a full round up, from the bbc sport centre. fresh from a busy couple of days

in the transfer market tottenham have delivered the goods on the pitch today. son heung—min scored four times as spurs thrashed southampton 5—2 to claim their first premier league win of the season. adam wild was watching the action. in the south coast sunshine, no sign of spurs star signing gareth bale, not ready for their game at southampton. for much of the first half, his new team—mates looked rather ill—prepared half, his new team—mates looked rather ill—prepa red as half, his new team—mates looked rather ill—prepared as well. danny ings putting saints ahead, spurs. but before the break, one had level. a brilliant goal and a glimpse of what was to come. the second half just moments old, he had another, spurs ahead, whichever way you look at it it was perhaps more than they deserved. but this was becoming something special. son put through again and his hat—trick was inevitable. a brilliant performance

by hemant harry kane whose cross set up by hemant harry kane whose cross set up yet another, running out of fingers to count them on, that was his fourth. with spurs firmly in control he eventually let someone else have a go. harry kane adding another. 5— to the final score. so who needs gareth bale in the sun? when you have son to bail you out? so 4 goals for the first time in his career, son heung—min got the match ball but manager jose mourinho had his own ideas about who should get man of the match. man of the match, harry kane. laughter i will say that. if it comes from the boss you can't argue can you?|j would the boss you can't argue can you?” would say harry is the man of the match because he scored a goal and with harry we are working together so with harry we are working together so long, so this is the sixth season and we know each other well and we wa nt and we know each other well and we want to have a good relationship on the pitch and even off the pitch. so

modest. that game at st mary's was the first of four matches in the premier league today. brighton lead 2—0 at newcastle while later on chelsea take on liverpool and leicester face burnley. rangers have moved top of the scottish premiership, despite being held to a 2—2 draw away at hibs. steven gerrard's side conceded their first goal in the league since march, to go behind early on. but goals from alfredo morelos and then this one from scott arfield took them into the lead in the second—half. but they couldn't hold on. christian doidge heading hibs level to share the points. and one other game has just kicked off in the scottish premiership. aberdeen and motherwell are taking on each other fresh from their europa league exploits on thursday night.

motherwell with two goals in the first 8 minutes at pittodrie. 0ne one goal was a penalty. follow the action on the website. ulster‘s dreams of a first champions cup semifinal for 8 years were brought to an end in france this afternoon. they were comfortably beaten 36—8 by four—time champions toulouse. south african winger cheslin kolbe was the star man for the french side with two tries in the first—half to put his team out of sight. before toulose rounded things off in the second with a fifth try of the match. thomas ramos going over for the score. they'll face either exeter or norhampton in the last 4. american matthew wolff leads the us 0pen going into the final round in new york. at 21, he could become the first debutant to win the tournament in a century. he's got a two—shot lead. rory mcilroy remains in contention but six shots back.

that's all the sport for now. you can find more on all those stories on the bbc sport website. back to you. let's return to our main story this hour. the health secretary matt hancock says the country has a choice of whether to follow the pandemic rules or face further restrictions. speaking on the andrew marr programme on bbc one, he said demand for tests had increased due to people without symptoms trying to get tested. he said it was really important to make sure tests were available for people who really needed them. we face a choice. right? if everyone follows the rules, everybody follows the rules and we will be increasingly stringent on the people who are not following the rules, if everyone follows the rules, then we can avoid further national lockdowns, but we of course have to be prepared to take action

if that is what is necessary. so we might be facing a further national lockdown if people don't obey the ruels? that is exactly right, i don't rule it out. i do not want to see it. and i understand the economic and other downsides of it. let's look at the routes out of this, if i may. give people something to hope for. dido harding has said a million people a day are asking for tests. how many actual people a day are actually being tested at the moment? just over... we have a capacity ofjust over 250,000. yeah, not capacity, but people. over 200,000. more than 200,000 actual people being tested at the moment every day? yesterday it was 226,000. so that is about 20% of those asking for tests every day. thankfully the demand has come down a bit this week since the figures that dido talked about and the reason for that is that we saw this spike in people who do not have symptoms and are not eligible coming forward for a test and we have been

and are not eligible coming forward for a test. the labour leader, sir keir starmer has said that the pm should personally apologise for what he described as the near collapse of testing," saying that if he were the pm he would apologise for the fact that we are in this situation with testing." whatever measure the government takes, we will support it. we did that with lockdown. really? we did that with local restrictions and i have said that whatever measures are taken. but listen, if i was the prime minister, i would apologise for the fact that we are in this situation with testing. throughout the summer, we were saying, prepare for the autumn. instead, we had the exams fiasco. i would make fixing testing the number one priority and reinstate the daily press conferences, so we all know what's going on. because up and down the country, people are really concerned about the fact that the testing system is near collapse. so you are in favour of tough decisions, what i'm asking you is what tough decisions you would take now? you've given a very good assessment of where we are, an analysis of the government,

but nonetheless, politicians have to say, is this time for a lockdown? would you ask pubs and restaurants to close now to save lives? andrew, i'm not giving you my view on that for this reason. it's not to duck it. one of the very important things in a pandemic is clarity of communication, so people know exactly... it is the reason i have said i will support the government. the government has their scientific advisers and they will make their decision. 0k. now, i may, sometimes we look at decisions... so here's... let me finish, this is really important. they make a decision, we will follow that and we will reinforce communications, because in the end this is not about party politics, it is about getting the nation through this virus. if the government takes action, we will support it and their message because what i want, like the government, is for this virus to come back under control, but the single biggest problem is testing. a memorial service marking 80 years

since the battle of britain has been held at westminster abbey. the battle was a dramatic turning point in world war two when 1,500 pilots and aircrew lost their lives fighting the german airforce. today's service was the abbey's first major event since lockdown although fewer than 100 guests attended. sarah campbell reports. sir winston churchill famously called the young pilots "the few", and the stakes couldn't have been higher back in 1940. archive newsreel: hurricanes and spitfires roar into action. it was the first time a pivotal military battle was fought in the air. the nazis' plan to overwhelm the allied air defences and then launch a land invasion. their plan failed. today, the prime minister arrived at westminster abbey to remember the sacrifices made, along with the leader of the opposition, all in masks, in this, the first major service to have taken place at the abbey since lockdown began in march.

usually, 2,000 people attend the service of remembrance which has been held here every year since 19114. not so this year due to the pandemic. just one of the few is still alive, but their legacy and what they achieved against the odds lives on. some events, some people are not just significant, they are pivotal. the battle of britain was one of those pivotal events, and likewise, those who served in it, ourfriends from other nations, those working on the ground, our families at home, every one of them. escorted by raf cadets, the battle of britain roll of honour, bearing the names of the 1,497 pilots and aircrew killed in what would be seen as a turning point in the course of the war.

last post plays as the service ended, a fly—past above london. the heroism of those who took to the skies 80 years ago remembered. sarah campbell, bbc news. now it's time for a look at the weather. this week it's the autumn equinox on tuesday and our weather is going to make it a magic switch through the course of the week from what has been a taste of late summer, most definitely into autumn midweek onwards. through the evening and overnight, a lot of the low cloud that has been bothering eastern scotla nd that has been bothering eastern scotland in the north—east of england through recent days pulls off into the north sea, so clearer skies here as we move into the new week but a chilly start actually to monday. further south the wait to see for monday is an indicator of fog risk across eastern wales, the

midlands into parts of eastern england. that burns quickly, a lot of sunshine on monday, a bit more cloud towards the far north—west but much warmer next losing that cloud up much warmer next losing that cloud up to 20 in newcastle. big changes as promised for midweek onwards, areas of low pressure rolling in from the atlantic, turning things much more unsettled but the biggest change will be turning things much colder as we start to feed in arctic air. hello, this is bbc news. the headlines — the government says the country is at a tipping point, as it prepares to introduce tough new fines for anyone in england who is told to self—isolate but fails to. if everybody follows the rules, then we can avoid further national lockdowns, but we of course have to be prepared to take action if that's what's necessary.

the labour leader says sorting out the problems with testing should be the government's number one priority. if i were the prime minister, i would apologise for the fact that we're in this situation with testing. throughout the summer, we were saying, "prepare for the autumn". instead, we had the exams fiasco. president trump says he will nominate a woman within the next week as his choice to replace the supreme court judge, ruth bader ginsburg. anti—government protesters in thailand call for reform of the political system and the monarchy. a hurricane and three spitfires fly over central london to mark the 80th anniversary of the battle of britain, following a memorial service at westminster abbey. now on bbc news, katty kay chairs a virtual debate which will examine the key issues of concern to voters in the us election campaign.