this is bbc news i'm rebecca jones. the headlines at 5pm. the uk records 17 and a half thousand new cases of covid—19 — as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week — local leaders want more details of those potential plans. we've said all along, we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue with the government. i've asked them to speak to areas where, potentially, they could be facing more stringent lockdown measures. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high — as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs donald trump has refused to take part in a virtual presidential debate — minutes after the organisers said next thursday's event

would be held online. british airways bids farewell to its last boeing 7a7 jumbo jets — four years earlier than planned — due to the pandemic. and prince william says he wants to bring optimism and positivity to efforts to solve climate change — as he launches a new environmental award with sir david attenborough. hello and welcome to bbc news. a further tightening of coronavirus restrictions in parts of england from early next week is being considered by the government as the latest figures show an increase in infections. the bbc understands that pubs and restaurants could be closed in the worst affected areas.

there could also be a ban on overnight stays away from home. and a three—tier system for local lockdowns could be brought in, where different parts of the country would be placed in different categories. significant new measures are in place in central scotland, with pubs and restaurants closing for more than two weeks. additional restrictions are in place in the derry city and strabane local authority area, which has one of the highest infection rates in the uk, and where there's been a big increase in cases. 17,540 new cases of the virus have been confirmed across the uk in the past 2a hours. a further 77 deaths of people who tested positive for covid—19 have also been announced — bringing the overall death toll to 42,515. the first of our reports comes from chris mason. this is leeds where new rules of some sort are expected.

new regulations are coming for parts of england where there are a lot of cases, but precisely where, when and how severe they will be is not yet clear. there's too much complicating. we don't know what they're going to do next. it'sjust one big mess. well, if it's going to get rid of this virus again, then, you know, we're going to have to put up with all this. people are losing theirjobs, but that's our life. kill the economy, literally, stop everything. and the leader of the council here says... we're really seeking urgent discussions with government to understand what they are expecting, to understand why there has been a delay in the announcements until next monday — which gives the weekend where people can go out as they please — and just understand if there is going to be a time restriction on this. trundle along the m62 to liverpool where, again, there are lots of cases and,

again, lots of questions from local leaders. you can't have an effective government if its comms strategy is announcement by media leak so we've said all along we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue with government and i'd just ask them to speak to areas where potentially they could be facing even more stringent lockdown measures. here's an insight into how concerned the government is. a health minister worrying about intensive units being overwhelmed. but ministers are vague about precisely what they're planning. we'll continue to take a proportionate and a localised response, which i think is the right thing to do because the variations in the number of cases are very significant in england, from, ithink, over550 in manchester per 100,000 to as low as 19 in cornwall, dorset and herefordshire, so a localised but proportionate

response has to be the way forward. the government wants to make this patchwork of different rules easier for us to understand and put everywhere in england in three different tiers. precisely how it's described isn't clear, but tier one might be the loosest restrictions, such as the rule of six, tier two one step up from that, and tier three, a more significant set of restrictions. there is still debate going on privately about precisely how this system might work. so, yet again, it is decision time here at westminster with a growing clamour that adds up to a simple demand — tell us what's happening. chris mason, bbc news. medical leaders are warning that the nhs may not be able to cope if people don't abide by the local lockdown restrictions. the latest figures show that the number of people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england has hit a 12—year high — and three times as many people

were waiting more than 18 weeks to start hospital treatment in august compared to last year. our health correspondent lauren moss reports. it is another stark warning about what could lie ahead. coronavirus hospital admissions are still far below what they were in april, but medical leaders are concerned about the recent increase with 3,000 patients currently being treated. we are at that tipping point right now. this isn't a joke, this isn't scaremongering. i don't come from an organisation that does scaremongering. we care about people, we care about our patients, we want to do the best for them and to keep doing the best for them through what was always going to be a difficult winter. let's not make it a spectacularly difficult winter. latest figures show there have been three times as many deaths related to covid—19 compared with flu this year and the impact of the pandemic is still being felt across the health service. more than 100,000 people have been waiting longer than one year for routine operations like hip

and knee replacements in england, the largest number in 12 years. almost 170,000 urgent cancer referrals were made in august, a large increase on april and may but still 30,000 fewer than the same time last year. 20,000 patients began cancer treatments, again up on the number in the spring, but still one fifth lower than august 2019. rob has been waiting for a joint knee replacement since last october. he has been told surgery will go ahead later this month, but he is still concerned it might not happen. it has affected me physically, mentally and i'm now suffering with a second condition, which i expected would happen to me sooner or later. i am now being treated for anxiety. it's just so much uncertainty around all this, and to be honest, this has really been hard to cope with. i've had some really bad, dark days with the pain. nhs england says more than1 million routine appointments and operations

are taking place every week, and 85% of cancer treatments continued during the pandemic, but there are concerns about the future. people with cancerjust can't afford to have this happen to their treatment again. they're already experiencing huge stress and strain through the disruption they're already seeing, so we are really urging the government to put the appropriate plans in place to ensure that cancer treatment will continue during the winter pressures and as covid cases start to rise again. according to the test and trace system in england, there was a 56% increase in the number of people testing positive for coronavirus between the 24th and 30th of september. butjust a quarter tested at in—person sites got their results back in 2a hours and a third have not referred to the contact tracing system by the end of that period. nightingale hospitals are on standby if covid admissions rise. with overfour million people waiting for routine

treatment in england, the nhs says it's vital clearing the backlog isn'tjeopardised by a second wave spiralling out of control. lauren moss, bbc news. people in northern ireland caught breaching the covid—19 regulations will face a minimum fine of 200 pounds under plans agreed by the stormont executive. ministers have signed off proposals brought by thejustice minister naomi long. in northern ireland, there's been a big increase in cases in the derry city and strabane local authority area. emma vardy has the details. derry and strabane now has the highest rate in the uk and medical experts here say that they were seeing clusters arising from social gatherings and then, more recently, have seen a majority of cases happening — or lots of those cases happening — in hospitality settings. it's important to say this is a border area, lots of cross—border travel is the norm, and the neighbouring county to derry and strabane —

donegal in the republic of ireland — has also had higher rates of the virus than other parts of ireland, too. so a number of new restrictions have come in in derry and strabane in the last few days. currently there at the moment, pubs, restaurants and cafes can be take away only or outdoor dining. museums and attractions closed in that area, and across northern ireland at the moment, the rule is no mixing of households in private homes. similarly, next door in donegal, tighter restrictions there have been imposed by the irish government including asking people not to travel into or out of the county unnecessarily. we are expecting a new announcement from the stormont executive here later on today. we're hearing that may be toughening up on fines, toughening up on ways to enforce restrictions. ministers say they are very worried about the big jumps in numbers in some areas recently, particularly as we are also seen hospital admission is increasing, too. news just in from another correspondent based there, he says

the r number in scotland — the average number of people each person with covid—19 passes the virus onto — could now be as high as 1.6. speaking at the start of first minister's questions at the scottish parliament, nicola sturgeon said the rising number of cases was why the scottish government had announced new measures including closing pubs and bars early — to try to tackle the virus. local leaders are asking for more detail of plans of possible pub and restaurant closures in the worst—affected areas of england. meanwhile sir keir starmer has said his party will not vote down the 10pm closing time for pubs and restaurants next week. instead, he'll call for the policy to be reformed. 0ur political correspondent jonathan blake has the latest. there was suggestions yesterday given how hard circular starmer at the prime minister to present evidence that the 10pm curfew was working in terms of slowing the

spread of coronavirus and reducing the number of cases in certain areas that he might be moving to a position where labour would vote against it when mps were asked to approve that measure in the house of commons next week. he has clarified that position today and said that he does not want to vote it down because that would mean there would because that would mean there would be no restrictions in place, and up until now labour has supported all of the government public measures in terms of restrictions to slow the spread of the virus. but he did say it needs to change. growing concern about the 10pm curfew, lots of examples of everybody coming out a venues of the same time and causing a problem with the way that people are exiting, we need this reform there's a smarter way of doing this. in wales they have a different set up in wales they have a different set up which is working much, much better. you need to be reformed. there is a vote next week and the problem with a vote next week is it is as of down or take it all, leave it vote. if you vote on the current arrangements will be any

restrictions in place. that's not what we want summit we will be voting down the restrictions. we say to the government reform the 10pm review, shows the evidence, do it in a much smarter way. what more can you tell us about the rationale behind the curfew? two big questions for the government at the moment. we are seeing the ministers pushed on from their local authority leaders and you mentioned in parts of the north of england and also from the labour party and others here at westminster, and that's one of the evidence that the restrictions already in place are working in terms of limiting the spread of covid—19, and if they are not working well enough or too confusing what are you going to replace them with? the government has gone some way to addressing the first today with the meeting for mps representing constituencies in the midlands and north of england led by the health ministers and the chief

medical officer for england where mps were presented with some evidence albeit limited that exposure to covid—19 does happen to a significant extent in hospitality settings. downing street said that ina settings. downing street said that in a briefing to reporters at lunchtime as well, and that, i think, is an attempt to at least provide some reassurance that the 10pm curfew is based on some sort of scientific methodology. as a way that curfew will stand we expect a restrictions or a new framework for restrictions or a new framework for restrictions at a national level to be announced next week we will have to see, but it does seem like this 3—tier system is with the government is moving towards with the rule of six and a 10pm curfew as the baseline and for the restrictions being imposed region by region or at a national level beyond that. nothing confirmed and nothing decided at this stage.

the headlines on bbc news. as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected the uk records 17 and a half thousand new cases of covid—19 — as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week — local leaders want more details of those potential plans. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high — as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. donald trump has refused to take part in a virtual presidential debate — minutes after the organisers said next thursday's event would be held online a former bbc and itvjournalist, allegra stratton, has been appointed as downing street's new press secretary. she'll lead the new televised briefings being planned by number ten. 0ur deputy political editor vicki young has more details. there will be televised press

conferences, quite similar to what we see in the white house and government want to introduce those as soon as next month. the person who will be the face for the government is allegra stratton. she is a former guardian journalist, she used to work for the bbc, itn and is most recently been working for rishi sunak, the chancellor. she is very much someone who knows her stuff. she will be beaming into people's living rooms every day, once they get this up and running and the government wants to do this because what they want to get their message out there, directly to viewers. it's quite a controversial idea, some would say, because it won't be an elected minister. they do insist there will still be ministers, and cabinet ministers fielding questions at other times, but as for daily briefing, it will be allegra stratton taking questions, as far as we know, from journalists. we don't know if it will follow the same

patterns as press conferences which have taken place during the covid pandemic where members of the public could ask questions, too. we'll have to wait and see what the format is going to be and exactly when they are to start. president trump has said he won't take part in a virtual presidential debate — that is, one held over a video link, rather than face to face. the proposal had been aimed at protecting the health and safety of all involved — following president trump testing positive for coronavirus. but mr trump told fox news it wasn't acceptable — and that he planned to hold a rally instead. 0ur washington correspondent gary 0'donoghue has the details. his campaign and obviously the former vice president's campaign agreed to these debates, but that was some time ago. the agreed to the formats of these debates in the moderators, etc. this was a unilateral decision by the

commission on presidential debates, an independent body. it sprang this one on everyone this morning that they were going to take next week's debate virtual. but the only criteria, and they did not mention this, the only criteria that has changed is the president's covid positive test. they made changes to the vice president looked debate that took place last night but still in person even though the candidates we re in person even though the candidates were separated by 12 feet. and added some plexiglas in between them. but the president does not like it, he says it's a waste of his time and he will be cut off by the moderator who he attacked as well. at this stage it does not look like he is going to show up in miami next week. has ever been virtual debates of the sort before, gary? really the first time there were television debates in 1960 with richard nixon and jfk.

there were television debates in 1960 with richard nixon andjfk. the third one in that series was actually virtual, believe it or not. nixon was in california, jfk was in new york and the moderator was somewhere else in chicago i think. before the days of zoom and all of these online platforms there has been a virtual one in the past, but generally speaking since then they have all been face—to—face. the dynamics of that are obviously much more desirable for the american people to see their candidates right up people to see their candidates right up against one another. you mentioned the vice presidential debate that did go ahead last night, what has been the reaction to that? not a lot is the honest truth. the vp debates don't tend to get a whole lot of attention or make a whole lot of difference. i think this time around is a bit more focus just because of the nature of the situation, but show stopping moments with both candidates avoiding the

difficult questions. no big ding—dong, the star of the show turned out to be a fly that landed in mike pence's hair it for to a half minutes. i don't think that will make many ripples. we will see because there will be pulling and they will ask about it in the next day or two. i don't expect it to show very much change. ruth davidson has accused nicola sturgeon of misleading the scottish parliament over a meeting about allegations of sexual misconduct by the former first minister, alex salmond. at first minister's questions, ms davidson, the conservative leader in the parliament, said it was beyond belief that nicola sturgeon hadn't remembered a meeting in which she was first told of the allegations against mr salmond. 0ur scotland correspondent james shaw has more. we should probably give some context about this. it was back in 2018 that allegations of sexual misconduct first emerged against alex salmond, the former first minister of

scotland, to civil servants claiming sexual misconduct. he strenuously denied those claims. he took the scottish government to court and the scottish government had to admit that the process had been procedurally unfair. alex salmond then faced criminal charges where he was acquitted of all those charges in march this year. in that whole completed process, the aspect of it that with davidson, the leader of the conservatives in the scottish parliament, was interested in, was when did nicola sturgeon first know about these allegations. she had told the parliament that it was at the start of april in 2018, but it has since emerged that it was three days earlier at the end of march. a critical one according to ruth davidson and she said she could not understand why nicola sturgeon had gotten this critical detail and this was nicola sturgeon‘s response. there is something seared in my memory and it is actually the meeting that took place some three days later when alex salmond

himself sat in my own home and gave me the details of the complaints that had been made against him and also gave me his response to aspects of those complaints. that is what is seared in my memory. i think most reasonable people would understand that. forgive me, presiding officer, if that has somehow overwritten in my mind a much more fleeting opportunistic meeting that took place a few days earlier, that isjust how it is. davidson was not buying any of that. she came back strongly with a serious allegation about nicola sturgeon‘s behaviour. serious allegation about nicola sturgeon's behaviour. you have to ask why, why did the first minister mislead parliament by omitting the fa ct mislead parliament by omitting the fact that this meeting ever happened? why did it take a government stop there being questioned under oath in a court of law for it to even come out? meeting

in herfirst law for it to even come out? meeting in her first ministerial officer and it investigation ever recorded, never mentioned it. when the code is clear that all such meetings conducted with unofficial present must be passed back for the facts to be recorded. 0ur defence that she has only ever acted head of the smp commit isa has only ever acted head of the smp commit is a decided memory loss because she didn't want evidence of her involvement as first minister coming to light? why does all this matter? well, what is important is the protocols around its investigation into ministers or formerfirst ministers investigation into ministers or former first ministers and they not be involved in any way. that's why it may matter whether or not they had this prayer meeting in the scottish parliament apparently in the first ministers office. where does it go from here? it really depends on what happens with the committee of the parliament which is looking into this whole mess, this

whole controversy. it's going to hear evidence from nicola sturgeon herself in person we expect from mr sammons as well and from nicola sturgeon's husband sammons as well and from nicola stu rgeon‘s husband who sammons as well and from nicola sturgeon's husband who is the chief executive of the s&p of what she is the elected leader. 0n executive of the s&p of what she is the elected leader. on all that, on the elected leader. on all that, on the evidence they are giving in the coming weeks and months a lot will depend, and the timeline that they are all looking at undoubtedly is scottish elections in may of 2020. will all this play into the elections and religious a few months' time? the duke of cambridge and sir david attenborough have joined forces to launch the biggest ever environmental prize, worth 50 million pounds. the "earthshot prize" will aim to find 50 solutions to the world's gravest environmental problems by 2030. hindou 0umarou ibrahim is an environmental activist and geographer and an earthshot council member. shejoins me now.

thank you forjoining us on bbc news. as a councilmember, what will you be doing? thank you for hosting us. you be doing? thank you for hosting us. i'm so excited about the earthshot prizes. what i will do is really to celebrate good news after all the fires are having in the forest, after the floods were having in the sera regions, the food insecurity. we have all of the bad news that is coming on the climate change and with this prize we can launch a positive aspect to see how we can all be compensated. all have these forces and be partners and accelerate the solution for climate change for the people in the climate. definitely as part of bright news today, but longer term what difference can it make? because there are a lot of prizes and

initiatives, aren't there? yes, a lot of prizes going on and it's really very important to see all of the prizes coming at the same time. because for me this prize will be very special. it's tackling this agenda. so we can not all achieve this if we do not put these kinds of big movement of prizes. you also stated to be beginning that there's a lot of money going on, it's not only going to finance a conference 01’ only going to finance a conference or to finance a lobby, it's going to finance concrete action that will protect nature. i will give you examples, they are predicting 80% of the world diversity, we can help restore the ecosystem but not recognising or giving capacity that they need to protect even more or better. 0n the other hand we have

the technology that's going on. and that technology needs to go to the peoples that need them to get that. not to developed countries but the developing world, to peoples on the ground. that will help this kind of concrete activities to be visible and also giving the solutions. concrete activities to be visible and also giving the solutionslj assume and also giving the solutions.” assume that scientists will be submitting ideas for the prize, but ido submitting ideas for the prize, but i do wonder what about ordinary people? what might they be able to do? could they even enter?” people? what might they be able to do? could they even enter? i think that's why i'm there. i'm an ordinary person. we talk about scientists we are talking about people that have phd his or are really doing some research in the university or whatever. i'm coming from an indigenous community, even in my community there's no school or hospital or clean water, and people are struggling with climate change.

as many other indigenous peoples around the world that struggling, that's why this can only be limited to the scientists or to the big people that reckon at the international level only but real peoples that are developing the natural and real solution on the ground. that's also the reason i am there to be sure the peoples that are there to be sure the peoples that a re left there to be sure the peoples that are left behind as you are carrying the solution to be present. have to ask you, have you met prince william, and if you have, what was he like to work with?” william, and if you have, what was he like to work with? i met him virtually, unfortunately because of covid so i spoke with them. 0ver hours. we discussed what he is doing 01’ hours. we discussed what he is doing or what i'm doing. at the end of the day i could just tell you clearly, prince william and myself, or scientists, we are all human beings at the end of the day. we are all

equal, and we are all living in the one planet, not plaintiff or princes, or anyone else, that's why he's caring about this prize and taking multiple people's diverse expertise and to help this be really unique. he's really a lovely person, not because i'm talking on tv or promoting him, but he has been a very lovely person with me. thank you so much for talking to us here on bbc news. pleasure. you can hear prince william talking about the launch of the earthshot prize in a bbc news special — and there's a further interview with sir david attenborough in the new podcast, ‘what planet are we 0n?'. both are available now on the bbc sounds app. now it's time for a look at the weather with darren bett. hello.

going to feel colder over the next few days. the mild or cloudy and damp weather is going to be moving away into the north sea. clear skies following by the evening, and also a few showers which will continue for a few hours yet. 0therwise we'll see whether weather coming in from the northwest overnight, some rain heading to scotland and northern ireland as the wind picks up downward to the far north of england and wales by the end of the night. clear skies and may be able to see the meteor shower during the evening, by the end of the night will be a lot colder with temperatures roof five or 6 degrees. tomorrow we have got showers coming in from the northwest edge of scotland, northern ireland, something heavy with hail and thunder. following this band of clouds and rain moves down across wales, the midlands and interest southern england the afternoon. that which point the ring to be steadier and heavier. stronger wind on friday and heavier. stronger wind on friday and cooler air moving down with typical temperatures on the 11 to 13

celsius. hello this is bbc news. the headlines. the uk records seventeen and a half thousand new cases of covid—19 — as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week — local leaders want more details of those potential plans. we've said all along,

we want to have an open and meaningful dialogue with the government. i've asked them to speak to areas where, potentially, they could be facing more stringent lockdown measures. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. donald trump has refused to take part in a virtual presidential debate minutes after the organisers said next thursday's event would be held online. british airways bids farewell to its last boeing 7117 jumbo jets — four years earlier than planned — due to the pandemic. and prince william says he wants to bring optimism and positivity to efforts to solve climate change as he launches a new environmental award with sir david attenborough. sport and for a full round—up, from the bbc sport centre, here's gavin.

and a busy night ahead of football, gavin. yes, absolutely rebecca. we've a big evening ahead for the home nations in international football. scotland and northern ireland renew their bids to reach next year's european championship, which were postponed this summer due to coronavirus. scotland have a play—off semi—final against israel, but they will be missing three key players after southampton‘s stuart armstrong, tested positive for coronavirus. team—mates kieran tierney and ryan christie will also miss tonight's match — they were identified as close contacts, and have to isolate for 1h days. they'll also miss the nations league games coming up too. there is no reason why it can't infiltrate a football camp, no matter how secure your bubble is. and the protocols and everything that we put in place is there to try and protect people as much as possible. everyone else who is involved has got a negative test and we look forward to the game, the ones that are left. northern ireland also have a huge game too later on — they're in sarejevo — to face bosnia herzey—govinya.

they'll be hoping to draw on their experience, of four years ago in france — when they qualified for their first major tournament in 30 years. —— bosnia—herzegovina. if they win tonight, and the republic of ireland beat slovakia, then they will play each other, for a place at next year's euro finals. as for england and wales — they play each other in a friendly at wembley tonight, and gareth southgate's making changes by the look of things. the england manager has confirmed goalkeeper jordan pickford is set to miss out, so either burnley‘s nick pope or manchester united's dean henderson will start. jordan pickford's been his number one for a while now, but he's not been in the greatest of form for his club side everton — despite their sensation form so far this season which sees them top of the premier league table. pickford's been under pressure, after a few errors. it is a very tight call. i go back to the fact thatjordan‘s performances with us have been excellent. i'm not oblivious to what has happened to him at everton but there can be lots of factors within individuals' performances

at their clubs and we have got to try to help them be in their best possible form when they are with us. mesut 0zil has been left out of arsenal's europa league squad for the forthcoming campaign. the midfielder‘s future at the club remains uncertain after being persistently left out of the side by manager mikel arteta. the germany international has not played for the gunners since march. new £16 million signing thomas partey has been included in the 25—man squad before their first group b fixture against rapid vienna on october the 22nd. in tennis, poland's iga swiatek has defeated qualifier nadia podorowska in straight sets in the first of today's french open semi—finals. the teenager, who is unranked herself, needed only 70 minutes to beat the argentine, who also was a first—time major semi—finalist.

swiatek will face sofia kenin or petra kvitova in the final. she won in straight sets. the american took the sets 6—4. and she took five to reach her second grand slam final. england rugby fans will be able to continue singing swing low, sweet chariot at matches despite the anthem having its roots in american slavery. the song has been england rugby‘s anthem since the late 1980s but has come under new focus during the black lives matter movement and the rfu decided to conduct a review. although they don't plan on banning fans from singing the anthem they have said they will use social media to improve diversity and inclusion in the sport. 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. gavin see you later, thank you. labour mayors and council leaders in parts of england with high rates of coronavirus have criticised the government for failing to properly consult with them,

as ministers consider whether tighter restrictions are needed to control the spread of the virus. an announcement is expected next week, and could include the closure of pubs and restaurants. joe anderson is the labour mayor of liverpool, hejoins me now. we are very grateful for your time thank you. i wonder if you can tell me what discussions and contact you have had with government. the only issue of the local lockdown measures, as you said, the ones that have been leaked today and the ones that we expect to be in place on monday. we have had a little or no dialogue with central government at all. what we have tomorrow morning isa all. what we have tomorrow morning is a briefing session with the prime minister's policy adviser, we know

he is also meeting with other leaders in other cities across the north and i expect from sometime this evening to have a call with the health secretary. we have had little involvement in the decision that it's been taken by central government to impose on a local government to impose on a local government more restrictions, we have had very little information. and why do you think that is? disrespect really. i have long said that a government disconnected from local governments and what we are doing in relation to working together to fight covid, the decisions they introduced at 10pm pubs was done without any consultation with the local authorities. i think it's counterproductive and not helping. i think it is driving people underground. we have seen evidence of that over the weekend. so we go

to the health secretary, for newcastle, manchester and before paul, we asked them for a plan which was to work together and collaborate so we could join up and introduce measures like local track and trace systems, support for businesses in the hospitality sector, but the ability to have an impact or input into how we control lockdown here has simply been ignored.” into how we control lockdown here has simply been ignored. i suppose the problem is that we have seen infections rising and the number of deaths rising and therefore there is perhaps some urgency to take decisions sometimes without consultation, therejust decisions sometimes without consultation, there just is decisions sometimes without consultation, therejust is not time. i accept that the primary role of central government is to manage the health and well—being of cities but also the whole country and i accept that, nobody is disputing the

fa ct accept that, nobody is disputing the fact that they have to get the balance right. but to have a dialogue and conversation, we have had particular spikes in parts of liverpool that we have managed really well. we have delivered the food and food parcels and medicines to all the people that were sealed over the last 5—6 months, we have for it with our public health officials to manage covid. —— have worked with our public health officials. i think it is discourteous and disrespectful to keep us out of the loop when we are talking about individual cities. and each one being nuanced in a way to why they have to go and effectively. ican give why they have to go and effectively. i can give you the example of newcastle and manchester, greater manchester where they have had restrictions in place for months now. and yet we have seen infections increase. so having a dialogue with

liverpool would have been i think courteous to say the least to state this is what you want to do things or this is the different way that we are going to apply them. today we have heard evidence and a big conference that took place today with the mps from across the whole north where they talked about how the hospitality sector and bars would threaten the virus. my understanding is this applies and these figures came from america. i think the epidemiologists and the scientists are lacking one thing and thatis scientists are lacking one thing and that is common sense and how you approach local is him and control the virus locally so we can do it. and do it which in a way government wa nt and do it which in a way government want and we want. so in terms of controlling the virus locally where you are, if the government did say it wanted to impose stricter local restrictions in your area for

example closing pubs and restaurants and other hospitality venues, would you be on board with that? i'm not convinced that is working. i am not convinced that is working. i am not convinced that is working. i am not convinced that if we see a blanket approach to closure rather than a tiered approach and if we see restau ra nts tiered approach and if we see restaurants that were covid safe all treated the same, then what is going to happen is we are likely to see what happened in liverpool over the weekend where the police attended 27 incidents were those house parties and we will see off licences open till after 10pm with supermarkets selling beer till after 10pm and people going into homes are being driven underground to spread the virus. we think there is a sensible and better way to approach that, to have a tiered structure where we work with local licencing sections and enforcement officers and working with the licensees themselves to

manage a system to ensure these establishments are covid safe but if they are not then we should have the powers to close them down which we currently don't have. i'm not convinced that this blanket 10pm approach to public and to treat restau ra nts approach to public and to treat restaurants the same way as well as something that is going to work and bring down infection rates here in liverpool which is a really challenging challenge as infection rates increase. so if you were in control of the levers of power, what would you tried to do to bring down infection rates? i would want a couple of things. i would want as i have just set the power to enforce lockdowns of businesses where they are not compliant with covid regulations like in the hospitality sector. i would want a better track and trace system working with the local health service and

universities here so that we can get a quicker turnaround on track and trace and have a better track and trace and have a better track and trace system. i think there is ways that we can work with our partners in the police but in the health service and public health officials to make sure that we have a more effective targeted support where receipt spikes and increases. and of course one of the most important things is as i say at this moment in time, our hospitality sector is being absolutely crippled by the fa ct being absolutely crippled by the fact that we have got so far the measures that we have got in place but are doing enormous damage to the economic well—being of people and businesses within the city. so there area number of businesses within the city. so there are a number of things that we can do to work together to make sure that we can actually have a more successful lockdown. and i think government need to at least have the conversations with us so we can arrange them in different parts. we see for instance in liverpool a big

increase in the infections. but if you take the student numbers out of those infections, than it is not as bad as what people are saying. however, it is bad because they are spreading the virus in communities, similar in manchester, in leeds and newcastle. we must leave it there. joe anderson the labour mayor of liverpool, it sounds as if those conversations with government will be starting and you can maybe keep us updated on how they go. but for now, many thanks. the headlines on bbc news... the uk records 17 and a half thousand new cases of covid—19 — as tighter restrictions to control coronavirus are expected in the worst—affected areas of england next week — local leaders want more details of those potential plans. people waiting over a year for hospital treatment in england hit a 12—year high — as fears grow about the pressure of coronavirus on the nhs. donald trump has refused

to take part in a virtual presidential debate — minutes after the organisers said next thursday's event would be held online. jamie oliver has warned that a "bad trade deal" with other countries would be "bad for public health" and has urged the government to do more to safeguard standards. the celebrity chef is spearheading a campaign to protect food standards in post—brexit trade deals — ahead of a vote in parliament on monday. let's hear what he's been saying. as we come out of europe, britain's got a lot to offer. and there's always going to be an easy deal, a quick deal. these trade deals... a bad trade deal is bad for public health. my main concern is child health — my main concern. but then of course, its public health. their parents are pretty important, too. and then you've got farming. we've got a farming community that holds some of the best standards in the world.

if they have to fight against an influx of lower standard products, they're not geared up for that. they haven't invested a0 years stacking it high and selling it cheap and not taking into account ethics, welfare, best of practice. you know, there's hundreds of banned pesticides and herbicides that we don't use in britain but they do in north america. there's a reason that we ban them, and there's a whole bunch of reasons for public health and bees and beyond. jamie oliver. the government say they are clear that they won't sign a trade deal that will compromise the uk's environmental protection, animal welfare and food standards — adding that claims to the contrary are "unhelpful scaremongering". here's what the international trade secretary, liz truss had to say in the house of commons earlier today. we're absolutely clear that we're going to stand up for our high standards in any deal we strike including with the united states and making sure that the high standards our farmers operate to will not be undermined.

british airways has waved its last two boeing 7117 jumbo jets out of its base at heathrow. the original version of the aircraft has been flying for more half a century. the airline's entire fleet of the jets has been retired four years earlier than scheduled, because of the pandemic‘s effect on international travel. 0ur transport correspondent tom burridge watched the last flight take off. the queen of the skies on a final departure. it was over and out for the british airways 7117 era. julie, cabin crew, we will bring you in. how are you feeling? so tearful. sorry. really sad to see her go. such a shame about the weather, but amazing. absolutely incredible. sorry. a glamour glider through the decades. the original version launched

in the ‘60s and defied all the odds. how are they ever going to get that thing in the air? julie welcomed a—listers and royalty on board. no need to go to a gym either. you become very attached to a huge chunk of metal that takes you around the world. and it is glamorous, it is iconic. and you do actually fall in love. old newsreel: the stretched upper deck is new to ba... in its day, the double deck was novel. it's like a private jet up here. it's still pretty cool today. i know somebody whose grandma boarded a 7117 and thought she was still in the departure lounge because it wasjust so big. she didn't realise and she kept saying, "when are we boarding?" the dress code changed, the food got better, but there were millions of miles and millions of 7117 memories. i think everyone knows the jumbo. it was borne out of the moon landing age 50 years ago and it has

been with us ever since. you can recognise it. you just see it when you get to the airport. it stands out, it's iconic, and customers, colleagues and anyone who has had anything to do with the jumbo just loves it. the captain at the controls as the plane taxied out one last time. rain and tears. a short trip to south wales for one, the other to gloucestershire — a fond goodbye. tom burridge, bbc news at heathrow. let's remind you of the latest coronavirus figures just released by the uk government. in the past 2a hours — 17,5110 new positive cases have been recorded. a further 77 deaths of people with the virus have been confirmed — bringing the overall death toll across the uk to 42,515. more on those figures in a moment but first we know the prospect of more local restrictions in england is an issue that many of you have been

asking about online. many of you are wondering whether certain business may be forced to close — pubs, local shops and hairdressers for example — and whether travel restictions could be further tightened. and could the measures being taken in some parts of scotland from tomorrow, could be replicated in all or parts of england. earlier on our health correspondent, cath burns talked us through today's new figures and helped answer some of your questions about what new restrictions from the government might be coming down the road. the figures by themselves are quite stark, 17,5110 new cases. there are 3412 patients in hospital. to compare that to a month ago, there were not quite 800 people in hospital a month ago. ventilators right now, 442 people are so sick with coronavirus that they need to be ventilated. a month ago, that figure was about 79. so we can see here that this is a steady pattern of increase and actually we have had a statement recently from public health england talking about "a definite

and sustained increase and sustained increase in admissions." the trend is clear and concerning. this is the kind of thing we've been seeing for a while, it's backing up everything that we are hearing but it is not positive news. so what impact is this all having on nhs waiting times? because we also have figures on that today, haven't we? we have. it is really important to us say that those figures are for august. that's before things really started to climb but they are still very important. so if we look at them, one of the things we measure is routine surgery — how long people are waiting for operations like knee and hip replacements. in august 4.2 million people are on that waiting list now and about half of them have been on it for more than 18 weeks. more than 100,000 people have been on it for over one year, that is the highest number for more than 12 years.

that is people getting these hip and knee replacements. this august and fell down... that is a fall of almost 120,000 people. which does sound really bad but i will give you anotherfigure to sound really bad but i will give you another figure to put it into slightly more positive context here. let's use that figure of this august about 156,000 people having this surgery. in april it was closer to 41,000. you can see where this leaves us, we are not where we used to be and have come a way since the start of the pandemic. the challenge now is the nhs is going to have to deal with the backlog and deal with the surge in cases sought the same time, it will not be an easy task. post—september figures will the ones to watch. the figures are coming quick and fast, we have had figures on test and trace. again the one

figure that one surprise people after every thing i said there is a 56% increase in people testing positive. i think it is interesting for how long a taste for these texts the turnaround. —— how long it takes for these tests that not about 30% of people who went to driving or walking centres were getting their test results within 24 hours. in the most test results within 24 hours. in the m ost rece nt test results within 24 hours. in the most recent week, that had fallen to 26%. we were talking to jonathan blake about the possible introduction of further restrictions, further lockdown measures but we are getting a lot of questions about that from viewers. briefly what can you tell us about that that you know? similar to what jonathan i imagine but we are not hearing anything official. but we are hearing that mps were in this meeting with chris whitty and health minister and that they are expecting new measures to be an us on monday to kick in next wednesday.

new measures to be an us on monday to kick in next wednesdaym new measures to be an us on monday to kick in next wednesday. it is interesting because one of our viewers has asked us, "why does the government announced they walked out before it begins? surely there is evidence that doing so undermines its efficacy." she has a good point here because it is human nature if somebody says in two days' time you would not be allowed to do this the worry is that a lot of people will go out and do that. a lot of itjust comes down to which essex, if you think peoplejust comes down to which essex, if you think people just cannot stop their wives. let's take the example of a restau ra nt. wives. let's take the example of a restaurant. you have to close at six tonight and they will have fridges in their having to pay staff, it is about people getting time for such —— they will not be up to stop their lives. is there evidence that the return to schools and universities saw a surgeon cases present and if there was that might account for the big rise in infections. the picture for coronavirus has really been growing slowly since july and at the

end of august was when it started to increase more sharply which is obviously one schools and universities did start to go back. if we take one university, newcastle university, more than 1,000 students have tested positive there in the last week, out of a student body of 28,000. the interesting thing with stu d e nts 28,000. the interesting thing with students is because many of them are so young, many of them are asymptomatic and not feeling ill at all at the moment. and the final question and i suppose universities might feed into this question from ken, it seems rates are higher in the north and the south of england. why is that? there is not a simple a nswer to why is that? there is not a simple answer to this but it is a really good question. 0ne answer to this but it is a really good question. one theory is that london was hit so hard in the first wave that people maybe there is more immunity but also people are more fearful. another theory is that when we came out of lockdown injuly, cases in the north of england have not really dipped to low enough levels so it is been easier for them to build up. and in another theory

isjobs in the north don't to build up. and in another theory is jobs in the north don't tend to be as office space as people would be as office space as people would be in the city of london. so they can't work from home, they have to go out and get to work. hello there. there has been some milder weather today across more southern parts of the uk. but over the next few days as we head into the weekend, it is going to feel colder. we have lower temperatures day and night and probably blowing in some showers as well. the reason for the cold air is higher pressure out to the west in the atlantic and a north to northwesterly airflow bringing down the colder air all the way from iceland. these are the temperatures by this evening. still 15 or 16 degrees. the cloudy damp weather moving out into the english channel and a few showers following in from the north—west. now, yesterday evening was the peak of the meteor shower, but we had a lot of cloud coming in. this evening, particularly across england and wales we will find some clearer skies. the cloud moving away from southern england and east anglia as well, but for scotland and northern ireland, we have more cloud coming in from the north—west. the breeze picking up and that will bring in some outbreaks of rain that will push down into the far

north of england and north wales by the end of the night. ahead of it some clearer skies. a lot colder than it was last night, temperatures could be down to five or 6 degrees and possibly lower than that in the scottish glens as the rain clears away and we get the showers following on. lots of showers for scotland and northern ireland, too, the showers heavy with some hail and thunder. and that band of rain moves down through the midlands, away from wales and into southern england in the afternoon. the rain could be a little heavy as well. we are drawing down a north to north—westerly breeze, strongest in the north—west of the uk, where we are seeing the most frequent showers. of the uk, where we are seeing a west to northwes but it will be a colder day on friday. could make 15 towards the south and south—east of england, but otherwise it's about 11 to 13 degrees. over the weekend, we sought was in cold we start with some cold north to north—westerly winds. this high pressure trying to build in from the atlantic will lessen the winds for the second half of the weekend. certainly a chilly feel out

and about on saturday. some sunshine and showers, most of the showers in the north and west of the uk. drier and sunnier for many eastern parts of england until later in the day. they typically 12 or 13 degrees and feeling colder in the wind. the second half of the weekend, the strongest winds will be down the north sea coasts of england and scotland and this is where we will see most of any showers. elsewhere it will be generally dry and they will be sunshine at times. winds later as you head further west, but after a chilly start, temperatures are still 12 or 13.

another big surge in coronavirus infections as hospitals gear up for the next wave. the impact of the pandemic means that more than 4 million people are now on hospital waiting lists for routine treatments. some hospitals like bournemouth are only treating a few coronavirus patients, but they have difficult decisions to make. if we see a flu season, if we see covid rising, how we balance that with keeping all the other patients who need to be treated in hospital coming through. next week, the government will announce new measures for parts of england targeting hotspots where the virus is rife. in leeds — where infection rates are particularly high — pubs and bars are bracing themselves for even tighter restrictions, even temporary closure. i think this was a blessing from god that i caught it. president trump claims he's

no longer contagious