lasting six months from november. he says it will save valuable jobs. mr speaker, these are radical interventions in the uk labour market — policies we have never tried in this country before. the new measures will replace the furlough scheme, which pays for millions of workers. the chancellor said there had been no harder choice than to end it. labour believes rishi sunak should have acted sooner. unions say the measure will save hundreds of thousands ofjobs. we'll bring you all the latest. also this lunchtime... after months of delay, the nhs covid—19 contact tracing app goes live in england and wales. anyone with a smartphone is being urged to download it. the latest test and trace results

show the numbers testing positive is almost three times higher than at the end of august. and is a little bit of hollywood glamour coming to wrexham? ryan reynolds and rob mcelhenney may be investing in the football club. coming up in the sport later in the hour on bbc news... the future of the national league is at stake. with fans still locked out, will the fifth tier season be scrapped? good afternoon and welcome to the bbc news at one. the chancellor rishi sunak has announced a major package of measures aimed at minimising job losses due to coronavirus restrictions. the newjobs support scheme

will replace the furlough scheme, which has provided some or all of the income for millions of workers, and which is set to expire next month. the new scheme will support people in what the chancellor called viable jobs — that is employees who are working at least one—third of their hours — with the government and employers now covering two—thirds of their lost pay. the chancellor said he was extending the scheme for the self—employed on "similar terms". he also announced more help for businesses, including deferring a vat rise for those in the hospitality and tourism sectors. rishi sunak described the measures as "radical interventions" never before attempted in the uk. from westminster, jessica parker reports. how are you going to pay for all of this, chancellor? it's a good question, though it may be a while before it's unsaid. the chancellor, flanked today by union and business leaders. there is no red box because there is no budget. instead, a winter plan. chancellor... in the

plans he said that while there were reasons for cautious optimism it was clear the virus and restrictions will be a fact of life for at least the next six months. our economy is now likely to undergo a more permanent adjustment. the sources of oui’ permanent adjustment. the sources of our economic growth and the kinds of jobs we create will adapt and evolve to the new normal. and our plan needs to adapt and evolve in response. furlough will end, arriving in its place a wage subsidy scheme from november. the government will directly support the wages of people in work, giving businesses who face depressed demand the option of keeping employees in a job on shorter hours rather than making them redundant but i also in the package, extending loan schemes, further developing some tax bills and keeping the lower 5% vat rate

for hospitality and tourism until next spring. shadow chancellor anneliese dodds. labour said there was much in the statement to be welcomed but... i've called for the introduction of a system of targeted wage support 40 times. that call has been rebuffed by this government 20 times. it's a relief this government have you turned now. but we must be open and honest. that delay in introducing this new scheme will have impacted on businesses' confidence. we are glad the chancellor has accepted the need to extend support but he is coming very late in the day to do this and it's little comfort to those who have already lost their jobs little comfort to those who have already lost theirjobs due to the impending ending of the furlough scheme. there is now no budget this year, no longer term tax and spending plans. instead, the focus,

and the money, is going into getting the economy through the immediate crisis. working out how to pay for it all, that will come later. cafes, restau ra nts wa nted to it all, that will come later. cafes, restaurants wanted to go full steam ahead, but after the latest restrictions many will be looking for some further help. having some level of support is going to give confidence. it's confidence not only to our own staff for our customers. so as we come to the end of the furlough scheme there is a lot of unknown. the warning lights came back on after a rise in infections. frustrating those impatient to get the economy going again. health and wealth tied together, with millions ofjobs at wealth tied together, with millions of jobs at stake. jessica wealth tied together, with millions ofjobs at stake. jessica parker, bbc news. our economics correspondent andy verity is here with me now. the chancellor says this is all about protecting jobs. will it work is

yellow at the moment you've got a situation where the furlough scheme is due to come to an end. there, employers have up to 80% of the wages paid by the government and the calculation they must be making is doi calculation they must be making is do i have enough demand, enough business coming in, in order to bring that person off furlough, so what the government is trying to do here, which is what is being urged by both the cbi and tuc, both business and unions, is to incentivise businesses to have more people working part—time rather than have say one person working full—time and one person being made redundant. so it should help those where employers were coming under ring whether to bring them back off furlough —— whether people were wondering whether to bring them back off furlough. those people will still get 77% of their normal wages. for the employer the incentive isn't anywhere near as good as it was under the furlough scheme. they still have to come up with 55% of

the wages of somebody who is only working a third of the hours, so they may be thinking, well, if i'm not getting that much work in maybe i can't afford to pay that bit more, but for those employers who are making those calculations they will also have the knowledge that they can claim if people have been on furlough £1000 a monthjob retention bonus, so that way the government ends up paying up to 60% of wages. this is really an attempt to stop a lot of the reduced demand we are seeing in the economy as a result of restrictions turning into unemployment as high as it might be and i've got a costing for you. they are saying for everyone covered by thejobs are saying for everyone covered by the jobs support scheme, are saying for everyone covered by thejobs support scheme, so it will be £300 million per month for every 1 million people taking it up, the assumption is about 4 million people will, so that will be a cost of about £1.2 billion a month, much less tha n about £1.2 billion a month, much less than the furlough scheme. our economics correspondent andy verity, many thanks. our political correspondent alex forsyth is in westminster now.

the chancellor calls it a radical intervention. does it go far enough? rito, the chancellor has been under growing pressure to come up with something to replace the furlough scheme which is due to end next month and i think it's worth saying that this wasn't a direct reaction to the extra restrictions we saw put into place earlier this week, but i think is the government has given this sense that this virus is going to be around for a while and that's obviously going to have an impact on the economy has new restrictive measures are put in place, then that pressure did grow a bit on the chancellor to come up with something to mitigate it, so this is his answer. the sense the government wa nts to answer. the sense the government wants to try and support businesses that might be struggling through the next few months, to keep people on the books where it can, also with extending the time it has to repay back loans and of course maintaining that vat cut for hospitality and leisure sectors but the chancellor did acknowledge as he said before this will not protect every business and save every job

this will not protect every business and save everyjob and we know of course many jobs have and save everyjob and we know of course manyjobs have gone already stop a lot of the devil will be in the detail. people initially saying they broadly welcomed the idea, the government has moved what they saw as the cliff edge that might come at the end of furlough, but there are still questions around certain sectors which are struggling to operate at all in the current climate, things like arts, entertainment and aviation, and the burning question behind all of this is how it's going to be paid for, because the chancellor has cancelled the budget we did expect to take place in the autumn. this scheme won't come cheap and at some point is going to have to make politically painful decisions about exactly how to foot the bill. alex forsyth in westminster, many thanks. the government's coronavirus contact—tracing app, which has suffered delays and setbacks, can now be downloaded on smartphones by people in england and wales. nhs covid—19 will instruct users to self—isolate if it detects they were near someone who has the virus. our technology correspondent rory cellan—jones has more. voice over: the nhs covid-19 app is a vital part in the fight against coronavirus.

it's been a long and difficult journey, but finally the nhs covid—19 app is here for everyone across england and wales. it has a number of features. you can scan a qr code to register your presence at pubs, restaurants and other businesses, and it gives you information about the risk level where you live. and, of course, it's designed to tell you if you've been in close contact with someone infected with the virus. what the app can do is find the contacts that human contact tracers can't find. for instance, people you don't know because, in the example i gave, you've been sitting near them on public transport. that might be one example, but there will be others and therefore it helps us to find more people who are at risk of having the virus. this is how it works. the app uses a bluetooth connection and if you come into close contact with others who have downloaded it that will be recorded on your phone. should you report a positive test through your phone,

those people who have been in close contact with you will be sent an alert telling them to self—isolate. an earlier version of the app trialled on the isle of wight was criticised for collecting too much data. it was cancelled and the new model relies on a privacy—conscious system developed by apple and google. now, if you do have significant contact with someone who later reports a positive test result, then you'll get a notification telling you you must go into isolation. but the very private nature of the app means the government won't know who you are and whether you received that alert, so it's all a matter of trust whether you obey that warning. one issue is that the app won't work on some older phones, but that applies to all those apps around the world which have relied on the technology from apple and google. it's simply the ability for the phone to be able to do it's very, very clever contact the other phone thing, so theyjust don't have that in older phones.

so it's a techy thing, not a policy thing, so itjust can't happen, so we have had some. the vast majority of phones in the hands of the people across the uk are post—2015 and it works in them. scotland and northern ireland have already had their own contact tracing apps for some weeks. the scottish app was downloaded by a million people — about one fifth of the population — within a week. ministers will be happy if people in england and wales show similar enthusiasm. rory cellan—jones, bbc news. and you can find details of how the app works on our website. that's bbc.co.uk/news. more than 600 students in glasgow have been told to self—isolate after 124 people at the university tested positive for covid—19. our scotland correspondent lorna gordon is in there now. a lot of concern then about

universities and the potential for spread? there are a number of outbreaks that universities across scotland, in aberdeen, dundee and st andrews, but, as you say, the largest and most significant outbreak has been here in glasgow. 600 students self isolating, 120 for testing positive and those numbers expected to rise. it focuses on two halls of residence in glasgow and activities in fresh as' weak. we we re activities in fresh as' weak. we were told there were a couple of big block and house parties where perhaps the virus took hold all their activities at the halls of residence did dampen down after that. a mobile testing unit is on site, university support is on site and food and cleaning products are being offered to those in need, but it was interesting the first minister nicola sturgeon was questioned at holyrood earlier and all opposition parties pressed her on why there wasn't a better testing system in place for students at the start of the academic year. she

rejected that and said that test and protect was working. the scottish government is in talks with the university sector and will set out further measures later today to ensure the guidance both for stu d e nts ensure the guidance both for students and the universities themselves are being properly implemented. thanks very much, lorna. almost three times as many people tested positive for covid—19 in the week ending september 16th as compared to the end of august. the new figures also reveal that in the same week, just under three—quarters of close contacts of people who tested positive for the virus in england were reached through the test and trace system. our health correspondent catherine burns has more. back to home school. the maguire family sent us these pictures of life back in isolation when they were waiting for a coronavirus test result. two—year—old sian got a fever last tuesday. the first priority was getting a test slot. it took them a few hours of constantly refreshing their laptop. getting a test like that, and one that we didn't have to travel 150 miles for, it was

a half an hour drive, so actually i thought, this is pretty good. sian got better pretty quickly but her results weren't so speedy. we still don't have the government's test and trace result. it's day eight. it's so frustrating, actually it's so much worse than the original lockdown, i think because we knew there could be an end to it, but we weren't getting the answer that we knew we should be getting. the test and trace system should work like a chain. the first link on that chain is people being able to get a test when they need it, then, speedy results. next, if anyone tests positive, they need to give information on who they have been in close contact with, and finally, tracers need to be able to get hold of those close contacts, ask them to self—isolate, and for them to actually do it. and like any chain, it is only as strong as its weakest link. in the week up to last wednesday, more than 19,000 people in england tested positive for coronavirus.

almost three times more than at the end of august. what's also going up is the time it is taking for people who went to testing centres to get their results. it used to be that about one in ten were waiting for more than a day. now it is almost half. and one in 20, more than 16,000 people, waited for at least three days. and a delay in results means a delay in people who have been in close contact with infected cases finding out that they are at risk and need to stay at home. it's quite possible just now that it may take four days of the period that i ought to be in quarantine before test and trace actually reaches me. so, i've only got ten days of my 14 days that i will actually be inside at home, even with the best will in the world. results have got quicker for people in care homes, though, which is a government priority. so, too, are the new restrictions

coming into force today, including a 10pm closing time for pubs, bars and restaurants. the maguire family knew that they all had to stay at home until they got a negative test result, so they ended up paying £150 for a private test. the results came through last night. got the e—mail. negative! yay! yes, you can go back to school! meanwhile, the government says it wants to have capacity for 500,000 tests a day by the end of next month. this morning, though, the maguires are back on the school run. catherine burns, bbc news. workers in some of the uk's big cities are having to adjust to changing government advice on coronavirus and the workplace. after people were encouraged to return to the office a month ago, they're now being told it is safer to work from home again. phil mackie reports from one of the worst affected cities, birmingham. packing everything away again. it's probably the last day

in the office for a while. i didn't steal one! there will be no more banter for staff at this pr agency who had just got used to seeing each other face—to—face again. but from today, it's back to working from home. i'm really gutted because i feel like i work best when i'm with people, you can bounce ideas off of people a lot more, i'm quite social, so, i do miss the social aspect of it. i feel like i didn't realise how much i missed it until we came back and then i was, like, "oh, no, i've really like, "oh, no, i've really "missed this, actually." back and then i was, like, "oh, no, i've really missed this, actually." being able to, like, speak to alice about graphic design projects and just looked over her shoulder and say, "yes, that's fine," instead of having to have a call or an e—mail or whatever, it makes life so much easier. this is how it looks at lunchtime in what used to be a busy city centre. before covid, tens of thousands of people would be piling out of their offices for lunch or a coffee. now, in britain's second city, it's just a trickle. the bigger the city, the bigger the problem. footfall in birmingham city centre is barely half what it was before the pandemic. and the number of people

who have returned to work in offices is just 15%. small businesses which thrived thanks to office workers are really struggling. pre—lockdown, there would have been up to nine people having their hair cut in the lunchtime rush. today, it was empty. it just seems that we've gone backwards. we've gone back to march, which was scary. you know, we managed to come through that, and you know, ijust don't think we can go through another period of time like we did earlier on in the year, really, to be honest with you. the city has weathered storms before, and the future was looking bright. it's less certain now. we absolutely designed the space here to maximise people engagement... this office was only opened in january. it employs 20 staff. they will continue to work from home but it's not always easy. we're quite a young team and many of the guys here, it's their firstjob, so they're learning on the job, side by side with their experienced colleagues. so, working remotely makes that

a little bit more tricky. even for those who've briefly returned to the office, it's time to sign off and pack up again. phil mackie, bbc news, birmingham. our top story this lunchtime... the chancellor, rishi sunak, announces a newjob support scheme lasting six months from november. he says it will save valuable jobs. mr speaker, these are radical interventions in the uk labour market, policies we have never tried in this country before. coming up in the sport in the next 15 minutes on bbc news — the hamilton commission. the formula 1 world champion will lead the newly formed group pushing for greater diversity in motorsport. as talks to secure a brexit trade deal with the european union

remain on a knife edge, businesses on both sides of the channel face major uncertainties, with the prospect of cross—border tariffs which would make their products more expensive. one of the countries set to be hit hardest if there's no deal on trade is belgium, where leading economists say that thousands ofjobs will be lost. and that could affect one of its most celebrated exports, as our brussels correspondent nick beake has been finding out. from farm. . .to factory. . .to frite. belgium claims its chips are the best in the world. these potato growers feed their own country and many more further afield. britain is a top customer, and while farmers here may not have followed every twist and turn in brexit, they are well aware that if the eu and the uk fail to strike a trade deal, it will affect their livelihoods. belgian potato farmers have had a really tough time. first, there was covid, with all of those bars, restaurants and stadiums closed.

it's also been a really dry summer, which has been bad for the crop. and now, once again, huge uncertainty over brexit. thousands ofjobs along this corridor in the flanders region are in the food production business. economists say it will be the area hardest hit in all of belgium if no trade agreement is signed before the end of the year. this is the family—run agristo factory — one in three of these chips ends up on a british plate. but if the uk and the eu start trading on world trade organization terms, a 14% tax — or tariff — will be added to frozen products exported to britain. that means fries are more expensive to make and deliver, and for customers to buy. tariffs, in our opinion, is the worst which can happen for the whole of our value chain. so not only for the potato grower, but for the processor. also for the retailer and the final consumer. after four years of brexit drama,

philip just wants certainty. i would ask all politicians, both europeans and british, to come once to a factory, and if we would work in the same way, and if we would play the same games like they are playing, we would not have a stable family owned business for over 30 years. professor hylke vandenbussche is one of belgium's leading economists. her detailed research for the governmentjust before covid struck suggested more than 40,000 belgians would lose theirjobs if there's no trade deal. i think people think it's over, i think there was a lot of hype around the end ofjanuary and people think it is over, but it's just the beginning. time and time again, we try to explain to people, no, there's still no deal. we don't know what the future relationship is going to be between the uk and the rest of europe. but i think people are fed up. theyjust want a solution. the eu and the uk insist they've still got the appetite to seal

a trade deal in the next few months. without one, belgium and britain, and many other countries, know they may suffer. nick beake, bbc news, leuven in belgium. so, with only 98 days until the end of the transition period, what do businesses here need to do? our business correspondent ramzan karmali is spending the day at portsmouth international port, and we canjoin him now. how are businesses meant to prepare? well, this is the big question. i am here in portsmouth, it is a very important port, the people who run it say it is the most important port in the whole country and it has the most crossings to and from europe. it is not just most crossings to and from europe. it is notjust passenger ferries like the one behind me, it is freight as well. they have built their reputation on goods, just in time goods, things like fresh fruit and vegetables and in fact 70% of

all bananas that we consume come through here. they are extremely worried not just about the fact that there might be a no—deal brexit but more worried about preparedness. in fa ct more worried about preparedness. in fact the british chambers of commerce have done a survey today and they have said that over half of firms are not prepared, those who important export, for brexit. it's things like logistics, things like paperwork, and the government say, actually, the information is out there, businesses should be ready. but those businesses are arguing back and saying, we need more clarity, on things like food labelling as well. so, there is a lot of confusion and the people here in portsmouth after more clarity and more answers about whether they need to do more in terms of being prepared for brexit and also what type of deal they should be prepared for when it comes to the end of the year. many thanks. there have been demonstrations in several major us cities after a decision not to prosecute the policeman who killed a black

woman, breonna taylor, in a botched drug raid in march. two officers were shot and wounded in protests overnight in louisville, kentucky, where she lived. their injuries are not life—threatening and a suspect has been arrested. borisjohnson will urge world leaders to make "ambitious commitments" to tackle climate change when he addresses a united nations meeting later. the speech will mark the beginning of the countdown to a global conference on climate change, which will be held in glasgow late next year. let's speak to our environment analyst, roger harrabin. roger, what are we expecting today? well, this is the climate week in new york, it happens every year, this week, of course, happening virtually. there has been a slew of reports right the way through the week about the state of climate politics and climate science, some of the science very disturbing, and more conclusive evidence now that extreme temperatures have been fuelling those wildfires that we have seen around the world. there has been one remarkable bit of good

news, though, that the chinese have promised that by 2060, they are going to cut their carbon emissions to virtually zero, and that really has taken people by surprise. and it does give the opportunity, if there we re does give the opportunity, if there were to be a joe biden presidency in the usa, for there to be a joint effort by the usa and china to tackle emissions, which would be really, really helpful, although frankly, we are still running at too higha frankly, we are still running at too high a level to be sure of a safe climate. so, it is in these circumstances that mrjohnson is asking world leaders to make pledges to cut their own emissions, but i should just say very briefly, reeta, if he is going to have credibility, he has got to get the uk's emissions on track first. thank you, roger harrabin there. domestic abuse towards men has increased since lockdown was introduced. (oov)charities dealing with men who suffer domestic abuse have seen pleas for help jump by up to 60%. some victims have had to seek

refuge by sleeping in cars or in tents in the gardens of friends or relatives. informants could be given permission to commit certain criminal acts while gathering intelligence undercover. people working undercover for m15, the police and other law enforcement agencies would be explicitly allowed to commit crimes under plans going before parliament today. the government says it is introducing the bill to help agents protect their cover, but any criminality must be proportionate. the campaigning journalist and newspaper editor sir harold evans has died at the age of 92. the former editor of the sunday times was behind several major investigations, including the exposure of the thalidomide scandal. his 70—year career also saw him work as a magazine founder, book publisher and author. the hollywood actor ryan reynolds is part of a group looking at investing in wrexham football club. the fan—owned club's members have voted overwhelmingly for talks to proceed, which could lead to £2m being invested in the club. the deadpool star along with american tv actor

rob mcelhenney will put forward their vision for the club at a special general meeting, as andy swiss reports. is one of the world's biggest movie stars, he is no stranger to unlikely stories. a superhero. but could ryan reynolds be about to swap the bright lights of hollywood for the floodlights of north wales? this is nonleague wrexham, a football club run by its supporters, who have now revealed they are into million pounds takeover talks with ryan reynolds and another hollywood actor, rob mcelhenney. as plotlines 90, actor, rob mcelhenney. as plotlines go, it takes some believing. for us, receiving contact from hollywood a—list is, that is a surreal experience, but i have had several conversations with both of them, and they seem very down—to—earth, serious and confident people, with

lots of energy, so hopefully, we will hear more from them. for a club which almost went out of business in 2004, it is a remarkable development. fans are now set to hear ryan reynolds' plans at a special meeting, but he appeared to confirm his interest on twitter. backin confirm his interest on twitter. back in 2012, two fans had joked about him coming to wrexham. last night he replied, yep, you never know. so what would it mean for one of those fans to actually meet him? iama of those fans to actually meet him? i am a huge fan, i would probably just stand there in silence, but i would not know what to say, to be honest. it is such an incredible story, you hear about these things going viral all the time, but to be inundated with notifications and stuff, the last 24 hours has been crazy. we have already seen russell crowe buying an australian rugby team, and will ferrell buying a us football club, but this? the club's box office moment had been beating arsenal in the fa cup in 1992...

what a goal, mickey