this is bbc news. the headlines at seven: as new system of coronavirus restrictions will be announced in england tomorrow — with the strictest measures expected in the north. liverpool is one of the places expected to be placed into the strictest tier of the system. labour mps say there isn't enough support. people feel that they haven't just been abandoned by the government, they now feel that the government is actively working against us. there is nothing that we would ever do that penalises one part of the country over another. scientists investigate whether a vaccine in use for more than a century might give some protection against covid. so much for the ceasefire between armenia and azerbaijan — as shelling kills civilians. the buildings here are clearly residential. these were apartments where people

were asleep in their beds when the attack happened. lewis hamilton equals michael schumacher‘s record of formula one wins, with 91 victories — and is presented with one of the german's helmets. and this ten—year—old sent a letter to ed sheeran as a way of practising her writing. we'll hear from her later to find out what she received in reply. the government is trying to finalise details of a new system of coronvirus restrictions for england, due to be announced in parliament tomorrow. with extra measures expected to apply to the north of england, the government has been under

pressure from local leaders — and from some mps — to give them more detail on its plans, and to offer more financial support to business and individuals who'll be affected. danjohnson is in liverpool, where the infection rate will mean the highest level of restrictions and significant new curbs on people's lives. case numbers have kept rising here and in some other big cities and that is despite layer upon layer of local restrictions that have been in place for weeks now so there's recognition that further measures are needed and there's acknowledgement that that will mean further economic pain, but these are difficult decisions that are in the balance here and it's notjust about wealth about wealth versus health — this is about culture, enjoyment and the freedom we have to live our lives. there are no easy decisions. the government has a lot to consider and there really is a lot at stake here. on the loudest, liveliest street, people worry about what's to come.

they want to be listened to, to be understood. all the things that are getting cancelled, the things we enjoy at this time of year — halloween, bonfire night, christmas — are these things were going to have to compromise with? if they had done it earlier, i don't think we would have got this far. the only way you're going to do it is total lockdown. once you've got total lockdown, you've got it under control. we were doing really well before. connor is running a pub already quiet by local restrictions. we're not even breaking even at the minute, never mind clawing back on the rent we still owe or pay to wages that we topped up. further restrictions could be the final nail in a lot of people's coffins u nfortu nately. and i would say our sales are down 50%. and jonathan is wondering whether restaurants will be hit by new tiers of rules. liverpool has known tough years

and i've been here when it's been tough, but over the last ten or 15 years it has been a brilliant place to be and it worries me that the rug could be pulled. consider, too, the challenge of enforcing even tougher restrictions that have so far been rumoured, floated, leaked but still not confirmed. i haven't felt anger like this towards the government since i was growing up here in the 1980s. people feel that they haven't just been abandoned by the government, they now feel that the government is actively working against us. it wasn't just liverpool busy at ten o'clock — look at london's leicester square. and in peckham, they were playing cricket. the government denies it is unfairly targeting northern cities. you say there is anger in the north... there is. ..but the measures that we bring in here are universal. these apply across the whole of the united kingdom and there is nothing

that we would ever do that penalises one part of the country over another. after the curfew came in, it was just game over. but think aboutjoe — still paying for the taxi that no longer covers his bills. you don't know where you're going to be in four weeks' time. am i going to be driving a taxi or going to be working in a factory or living on the dole with no money? these are delicate decisions, but, in this city and others, people wonder how much they are about to be silenced. we can speak now to the leader of pendle council, mohammed iqbal, who was one the local leaders who met witth the government today to discuss new restrictions. pendle has 331 cases per 100,000 people in the latest week. the average area in england had 7a. thanks for being with us on bbc news. you spoke to sir ed lister, the chief strategic adviser for the

government, is that right? what did he have to say to you? is lancashire leaders we had a meeting on friday and this afternoon to say that we are disappointed is an understatement. we set out clear proposals to the government in a letter yesterday where we really wa nt letter yesterday where we really want a constructive relationship with government to help protect the vulnerable and the nhs in our area but the conversation that happened this afternoon was very underwhelming and we left a meeting very disappointed. in what way? well, we had asked that as local leaders in lancashire, we know how to tackle this pandemic and asked government for additional resources to work with their business community, work to protect the vulnerable, what to engage with the community, but government seem to have got into their mind that by closing pubs and bars in lancashire is the solution to this pandemic. quite clearly it is not and it will not work, it will only further drive a nail in the coffin of our hospitality industry. what is your

argument for saying it won't work? if the government believes that this will restrict the amount of contact between people and that this might help reduce the spread, that doesn't sound a logical. —— illogical. help reduce the spread, that doesn't sound a logical. -- illogical. we wa nt sound a logical. -- illogical. we want evidence that mixing in pubs and bars in lancashire is causing the infection to rise. we were categorically told that the evidence does not support the government's theory and that's why i'm very frustrated that the government are using pubs and bars as scapegoats to try to tackle this pandemic. they have failed miserably and what we said asa have failed miserably and what we said as a lancashire leaders as we wa nt to said as a lancashire leaders as we want to work with the government by closing pubs and bars is not the solution in this time. —— but closing pubs. you said you have been categorically told. by whom? the civil servants we have spoken to on friday and today, we have asked for the evidence and were told there was no evidence to support the theory

but government needs to take drastic action and this is one of the measures, one of their grand ideas to tackle the pandemic. i'm sorry to say, without the evidence available, i challenge them to share it with me this evening and other leaders and we will consider it, but you cannot just steam—roll it. local council leaders and local leaders to agree on something when the evidence is not there. you not talking about pendle council officials, you're talking about national servants. i'm talking about national servants. i'm talking about national civil serva nts talking about national civil servants under the prime minister.|j wa nted servants under the prime minister.|j wanted to point out where you are pointing the finger on this lack of clarity. what have you been told about... let's put that bit aside, about... let's put that bit aside, about what sort of measures you should expect to be announced as they will affect people living in pendle tomorrow? we were told there

would be an announcement tomorrow by the prime minister in terms of the tier system. we asked for details on the tier system earlier today and as of now we are still waiting for the details but we were told the prime minister would make the announcement on it. lancashire leaders are still up on it. lancashire leaders are still upfora on it. lancashire leaders are still up for a conversation with the prime minister and the health secretary, anybody who wants to talk to us from government about tackling this pandemic collectively and jointly. what we want allow it to be bullied into something when we don't have the details in front of us. that is not fair to the people we represent. which tier are you going to be in? have they told you that and what it will mean? the threat we have had as we will be placed into tier three, i don't have the details on what that entails and without the details i can't agree to them. but what you know is it would be the most serious restrictions. tier three would be the highest. and the government have said they will announce the closure

of pubs and bars —— and we have been told the government will close pubs and bars. what would be the implications, other than making evenings is a bit more miserable for people in the district? the people who work in the hospitality industry are barely scraping through in terms ofa are barely scraping through in terms of a living. if the government said by closing up a pub and giving those people two thirds of the salary is going to make ends meet, that is not going to make ends meet, that is not going to make ends meet, that is not going to happen but more lee, the pub or bar they are closing does not survive on its own, it has a whole industry that supports it. the government has made no intention known to local councils how they intend to support those people affected. these people are barely living at the moment and if the government think that two thirds of their salary as announced by the chancellor will solve their problems, they are living in cloud cuckoo land. i understand that you did asa cuckoo land. i understand that you did as a council tried to set up some local testing facilities yourselves because you were not hugely confident that the national

test and trace was reaching enough of the contacts of people who had become infected. what's happening with that? that took us roughly four weeks to set up and i'm pleased to say that by working with government, the local scheme is working far better to what the national scheme was and what i would urge government to do is to delegate local areas to deal with the test entry system as they have done in pendle. we got it working now after a number of weeks and it's working fine. the government need to roll out that package to the rest of the country with the resources available but linked to that is community testing. frustrating as it is, as of today, community testing facilities in pendle have closed because there is a national shortage of kits. if the government wants us to work with the protester community, they need to give us the resources and facilities to do that. —— wants us to work within our own community.

we will be discussing proposals for the lockdown system more if we get more information throughout the course of the evening. we will bring it to you here on bbc news. we will also discuss that in our paper review at 10:30pm. the latest government figures show — there were 12,872 new coronavirus infections recorded in the latest 24—hour period. that means the average number of new cases reported per day in the last week was 14,391. 65 deaths were reported — that's people who died within 28 days of a positive covid—19 test. which means, on average, 68 deaths per day in the past week. the total number of deaths across the uk is now 42,825 within that overall picture, there is significant variation in the situation in different parts of the uk. our medical editor fergus walsh has been looking through the latest data. there is a huge variation

in coronavirus levels across the uk. this heat map shows the areas in red with the highest levels and those in light blue with the lowest. just look at the range — derry city and strabane has 68a cases of coronavirus per 100,000 population. glasgow has 243. liverpool, 600. manchester has a 525 coronavirus cases per 100,000 population. nottingham, 761, merthyr tydfil, 214, but north norfolk has just 25 per 100,000 and torridge in north devon even only 18. what matters is the impact it has on the nhs.

in north west england, the worst—affected region, there has been a big increase in covid admissions in the past month, now averaging around 150 patients per day, up by 60% injust a week, but that is still below the peak in early april when more than 400 patients a day were being admitted to hospitals in england in north west england with covid—19. the worrying thing now is that winter isn't here yet — the peak time for rest between viruses, things like flu. the nhs coped during the first wave by cancelling nonurgent surgery and cancer screening. the aim of this time is to continue with non—covid care, but that is dependent on how well coronavirus is kept in check for the next six months. as efforts continue to develop proven treatments for covid—19, british scientists are beginning a study into whether the bcg vaccine — which protects against tuberculosis —

could be helpful. the uk study is part of an international research project. the hope is that bcg might provide some protection against covid until a specific vaccine against the virus is in use. james gallagher reports. in the fight against covid, scientists are turning to one of our oldest vaccines. archive: a new preventive weapon has nowjoined the battle. bcg vaccine... the bcg jab was designed to fight tuberculosis, and was first trialled in 1921. it has since been given to hundreds of millions of people. but now doctors think its effect on the immune system may lessen the impact of coronavirus, too. sam hilton is a gp. his job dealing with patients puts him at higher risk of getting covid. he's one of 1,000 people in the uk, including care home staff and other health care workers, who will take part in the trial. having had the vaccine in childhood will not offer protection today.

there's quite a good theory behind why the bcg vaccine might make you less likely to get unwell when you get covid, so i guess i see it as a potential for me to be protected a bit, which means i'm more likely to be able to come to work this winter. sam will get either the bcg jab or a dummy injection. then researchers will wait to see if the vaccine either alters the odds of getting covid or the severity of the infection. the data collected here in exeter will be combined with studies in australia, the netherlands, spain and brazil. there is no evidence bcg will help in the pandemic, so why do researchers think it might? this seems odd. vaccines are supposed to protect against one specific infection, so why might a tuberculosis jab also have a benefit in coronavirus? well, there's some interesting science that suggests that vaccines may have a wide effect across the whole of the immune system that may give our bodies an edge against other viruses

and infections, too. and indeed, in trials with the bcg jab, there has been a fall in death rates from other infections after people were vaccinated. the world health organization says the bcg jab might help bridge the gap until a dedicated coronavirus vaccine is developed. james gallagher, bbc news. the headlines on bbc news: a new system of coronavirus restrictions will be announced in england tomorrow — with the most serious measures expected in the north. liverpool is expected to be placed into the strictest tier. labour mps say there isn't enough support. shelling kills civilians, amid fresh fighting between armenia and azerbaijan, despite a ceasefire being called just hours before. a ten—year—old girl with dyslexia has been posting letters

to celebrities and key workers to improve her confidence with writing. she sent a letter to musician ed sheeran, and was very surprised to receive a reply. lily who sent the letter and her mum amanda join us now. hello to you both. tell me, we will hear a bit hello to you both. tell me, we will heara bit in hello to you both. tell me, we will hear a bit in a minute about the surprising reply you got but can you tell me first why you wanted to write this letter —— these letters? i wanted to write the letters so i could get better at my writing and spelling so i decided to write letters to famous people to see how many replies i could get. how many did you get? four. was ed sheerin's

the best letter? —— ed sheeran. did you get? four. was ed sheerin's the best letter? -- ed sheeran. yes, it was the best. why was that? so it wasn't just the letter it was the best. why was that? so it wasn'tjust the letter he sent you! no, not really. something bigger than herself! amanda, why was this, imean, than herself! amanda, why was this, i mean, it's a lovely surprise and terrific gesture, but why is this exercise in writing been particularly important for lily? lily, having dyslexia, would find writing very hard and when she started writing the letters to people who inspired her and started

to get replies, she just kept writing more and it gave her the confidence in her work, it was unreal. lily, do you think it has major writing better? —— made your writing better? yeah, definitely. do you find it takes you less time to write a letter and it feels less like hard work than it used to? yeah, i still find like hard work than it used to? yeah, istill find it like hard work than it used to? yeah, i still find it a like hard work than it used to? yeah, istill find it a bit like long to write letters but not as long to write letters but not as long as it used to be. and will you keep writing letters? yeah! good for you because some of us all people have got a bit lazy writing letters because of computers and our handwriting is suffering as a result so perhaps i need to take a lesson out of your book and write some more letters. amanda, now you've got the

guitar, is that now something else that you think you'd like lily to do a bit of hard work on? definitely, she had started to learn the guitar just before lockdown and with restrictions here it had all stopped but she has lessons lined up now to start as soon as she can. terrific. amanda and delay, thank you for speaking to us. it's a lovely thing that ed sheeran sent you a guitar andi that ed sheeran sent you a guitar and i bet he will be pleased if you sent him another letter once you've had some lessons so he knows how you're getting on. will you do that? i already have it done! and maybe he will get to hear you play at some point. there was an exercise they asked me to do in school. well, thank you both very much. it's a lovely story and i'm really pleased that you got some letters back and a

fantastic present as well to inspire you and maybe inspire some other people to improve their writing and write a few more letters. we could all do with that. the scottish mp who refused to resign despite travelling from london to glasgow by train after testing positive for coronavirus has given herfirst interview since the incident. margaret ferrier told the scottish sun on sunday, she had acted "out of character" and had made an error ofjudgment as connor gillis reports. margaret ferrier was elected as an snp mp in december and has been at the centre of a scandal for weeks now. ..commitment over the last seven months. this is her speaking in the house of commons. showing coronavirus symptoms, she had taken a test. after being confirmed positive, she decided to take the train back to scotland, claiming she doesn't have a flat in london and would have been forced to quarantine in a hotel. today in an interview with the scottish sun, she said she panicked, it was a blip, the virus made her act

out of character. she said it had been a highly stressful situation but she will continue to work. the mp also questions whether her hard work and dedication should be wiped away for an error of judgment. despite being suspended by the snp, there is still a sense of anger here in her constituency of rutherglen and hamilton west. anger, too, from the snp leader and scotland's first minister, nicola sturgeon, who described her actions as "completely indefensible, reckless and dangerous". ms ferrier has today responded, saying she feels hurt by the criticism from people she considered friends and colleagues. she doesn't want to lose the money. everybody else would be sacked, fired or anything else and live on nothing. she should be the same and see what it's like for the people. well, ijust think she's a silly woman. she really is, because i've not seen my family. i can't see my family, and it angers me. she was irresponsible,

and mps should be people who set an example to the rest of the public. she's done the exact opposite — she should go. nicola sturgeon insists she has done all she can. no party leader has the power to make an mp resign from parliament, but i couldn't be clearer — she should step down from parliament. police are investigating this incident. for now, margaret ferrier clings on in the face of overwhelming criticism. i want to bring you an update on our top story about the restrictions which are expected to be announced tomorrow by the prime minister. a new system, three tiers. we've also heard from the labour leader of pendle district council who has been told that pendle will be in the top tier. we now know that liverpool will also be in the top tier. this isa

will also be in the top tier. this is a statement that steve rotherham, the labour mayor of liverpool region has put out. he basically is a saying confirmed, it will be tier three. since friday, myself and the leaders of our local councils have beenin leaders of our local councils have been in dialogue with government... i think what has prompted him to put out that statement which he has tweeted is that contrary to some reports circulating tonight, no agreement has yet been reached.

negotiations are ongoing. so i don't know if he thinks that somebody on the other side was suggesting that all is rosy between government and liverpool city on this decision to go intoa liverpool city on this decision to go into a tier three. we will know exactly what tier three means on monday when the prime minister makes his announcement. i think it's pretty clear from what muhammad a pal said 20 minutes ago here that it will mean all pubs will have to shut for the foreseeable future —— mohammed iqbal. similar to restrictions in scotland perhaps, we don't know because those are specific to the scottish government. this is the uk government making decisions affecting england and some of the council leaders and local mayor saying, we are not happy with the way the government is handling this. there will always be the criticism, you are labour people so that's why you're having a pop at a conservative government. i think the tone of the remarks suggests they see this as something other than a

party political spat. the ceasefire brokered by russia between armenia and azerbaijan has been breached within its first 24 hours. the azeri president has accused armenia of a war crime after an apartment block was shelled, killing several civilians. the long running dispute between the two countries is over the nagorno karabakh region. armenia says any attack was in response to air strikes launched from ganja — the city that was struck — from where our international correspondent orla guerin has sent this report. "let me see his face," she begs, "one last time." she's not alone in this desperate search. "let me see," says this woman, "is he from my family?" "may the armenians die," she cries.

this is what's left of her neighbourhood in ganja, azerbaijan's second—largest city — far from the front line, but not far enough. at the scene, remnants of what baku says was a ballistic missile. it's accusing armenia of a war crime. this was clearly a civilian target — apartment blocks, flats where people were living. there's bedding and blankets and mattresses strewn among the rubble here. the attack happened at about 2am. this is supposed to be a ceasefire, but it looks more like all—out war. and what happens next? is there worse to come on both sides? standing here now in the rubble, is the ceasefire dead? actually, it's hard to assess the situation. therefore, currently, we are considering the situation.

if armenia continues to attack azerbaijani civilians, then azerbaijan will be obliged to take necessary measures against a legitimate military target. you are saying that they have fired at you and you're also saying that you reserve the right to retaliate, so which is it — are you sticking to the ceasefire or will you retaliate for this attack? at this stage, we are trying to stick to the ceasefire regime, but, of course, if they continue to do so — attacking azerbaijani civilians — as every nation, we also have the right for self—defence. we were shown the destruction here in ganja, but azerbaijan, too, is accused of breaching the ceasefire by shelling civilian areas in nagorno—karabakh. "we are all mothers," she told me, "there and here, and our hearts are aching." now it's time for a look

at the weather with matt taylor. good evening. we stick with the autumn chill through the week ahead, some sunshine returns more widely later in the week but into the start of tomorrow, cloud and rain back at times for many. quite a went day for some of you as well. that is all starting to arrive through tonight, particularly across western scotland, northern ireland the rain turning heavier towards dawn. all helps keep the temperature up, a further east chilly night, showers are feted and then the clear skies stop could be a touch of frost towards east anglia. 13 celsius in scotland and northern

ireland but more of a